Wilma's intensity slowly leveled off after becoming a Category 5 hurricane, and winds had decreased to 150 miles per hour (240 km/h) before it reached the Yucatán Peninsula on October 20 and 21. After crossing the Yucatán, Wilma emerged into the Gulf of Mexico as a Category 2 hurricane. As Wilma began accelerating to the northeast, gradual re-intensification occurred, and the hurricane was upgraded to Category 3 on October 24. Shortly thereafter, Wilma made landfall in Cape Romano, Florida with winds of 120 miles per hour (190 km/h). As Wilma was crossing Florida, it briefly weakened back to a Category 2 hurricane, but again re-intensified as it reached the Atlantic Ocean. The hurricane intensified into a Category 3 hurricane for the last time but dropped below that intensity while accelerating northeastward. By October 26, Wilma transitioned into an extratropical cyclone southeast of Nova Scotia.

Wilma made several landfalls, with the most destructive effects felt in the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, Cuba, and the U.S. state of Florida. At least 62 deaths were reported and damage totaled to $27.4 billion, of which $19 billion occurred in the United States.[1][2] No other major hurricane made landfall in the contiguous United States until Hurricane Harvey made landfall in southern Texas on August 26, 2017, ending a record streak of no landfalls for over 11 years and 10 months.[citation needed] Also, after Wilma, no hurricane struck the state of Florida until Hurricane Hermine did so nearly 11 years later in 2016, and no major hurricane until Hurricane Irma made landfall in early September 2017.

A large area of disturbed weather developed across much of the Caribbean Sea during mid-October as a lower-tropospheric low interacted with a broad area of disturbed weather, aided by an upper-level low across the region. A broad area of low pressure developed on October 13 to the southeast of Jamaica, and slowly became more concentrated as upper-level wind shear gradually decreased. Dvorak classifications began on October 14, and by late October 15 the surface circulation in the system became well enough defined, with sufficiently organized deep convection, for the National Hurricane Center to designate the system as Tropical Depression Twenty-Four while located about 220 mi (350 km) east-southeast of Grand Cayman.[1]

The depression drifted southwestward because of the influence of two ridges to its north and with warm sea surface temperatures and a favorable upper-level environment, it strengthened into Tropical Storm Wilma on October 17. Initially, development was slow, due to the large size of the storm and a flat pressure gradient. However, convection gradually organized, and from October 18 through October 19, Wilma underwent explosive deepening over the open waters of the Caribbean Sea. Around 12:00 UTC on October 18, the system intensified into a hurricane. In a 30‑hour period, the pressure dropped from 982 mbar (hPa; 29.00 inHg) to the record-low of 882 mbar (hPa; 26.05 inHg), while the winds increased to 185 mph (295 km/h). During its intensification on October 19, the hurricane's eye shrank to as small as 2.3 mi (3.7 km) in diameter, becoming the smallest eye ever seen in a tropical cyclone.[1]

On October 20, Wilma weakened below Category 5 intensity to 155 mph (250 km/h) due to an eyewall replacement cycle, began to turn towards the northwest, and further slowed its movement. Late on October 21, Wilma made landfall on the island of Cozumel, Quintana Roo, at around 21:45 UTC with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph (240 km/h) and then again made a second landfall on the Mexican mainland six hours later and only slightly weaker. Wilma continued to drift slowly towards the north over the Yucatán Peninsula, although it weakened to a moderate hurricane while over land, it reemerged over the southern Gulf of Mexico on October 23 around 00:00 UTC. Despite Wilma spending 24 hours over land, it reëmerged with little intensity lost, and began to re-intensify shortly after. This was perhaps due to its large size and because the majority of its circulation remained over the warm waters of the northwest Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. A powerful trough turned the hurricane to the northeast and accelerated its forward motion. Its large eye remained well-organized, and Wilma intensified, despite increasing amounts of wind shear, briefly producing winds of 125 mph (200 km/h), before making landfall on Cape Romano, Florida, as a 120 mph (195 km/h) major hurricane.[1]

Wilma crossed the state in about 4.6 hours and weakened to a Category 2 hurricane, with winds of 110 mph (175 km/h), after entering the Atlantic Ocean near Jupiter, Florida. Key West received several feet of water in the low-lying areas and flooded homes. The Lower Keys also experienced an unusual flood: it occurred twice. First, as the storm approached Florida, it pushed water across the keys from south to north. As the storm finally crossed into the Everglades, all the water that had been pushed by the storm was released as Wilma crossed the peninsula. The water then raced back across the Lower Keys a second time and went back out to sea. This caused additional flooding and costly damage. Possibly due to less friction of the eyewall or moving over warm waters of the Gulf Stream, Wilma again re-intensified to reach winds of 125 mph (200 km/h) and subsequently absorbed Tropical Storm Alpha to the south, before cold air and wind shear penetrated the inner core of convection. On October 26, Wilma transitioned into an extratropical cyclone, and on the next day, the remnants of Wilma were absorbed by another extratropical storm over Atlantic Canada.[1]

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) issued many tropical cyclone warnings and watches throughout Wilma's duration. At 09:00 UTC on October 16, a hurricane watch and tropical storm warning were posted for the Cayman Islands. A tropical storm warning was issued in Honduras from the border with Nicaragua westward to Cabo Camaron at 15:00 UTC on October 17. The hurricane watch and tropical storm warning for the Cayman Islands were both discontinued at 18:00 UTC on October 19. In Belize, another tropical storm warning became in effect at 15:00 UTC on October 19 from the border with Mexico to Belize City. On October 21, the tropical storm warning in Honduras was discontinued at 03:00 UTC, while the other in Belize was canceled twelve hours later.[1]

Hurricane Wilma about to cross Cozumel, a small island just off the Yucatán Peninsula coast. Winds are at 150 mph (240 km/h) as the eyewall passes over the island, and hurricane-strength winds extended for 80 mi (130 km) from the storm’s center.

Quintana Roo government officials declared a red alert on the evening of October 19. Classes were suspended in the state's northern municipalities and residents of coastal areas were advised to take refuge farther inland; tourists in the resort city of Cancún and its adjacent islands were told to return to their places of origin or head inland while those unable to were relocated to designated hurricane shelters throughout the city. In neighboring Yucatán, classes were also suspended in 18 coastal municipalities.[3]

In Cuba, a hurricane watch was issued from Matanzas Province westward to Pinar del Río Province and Isla de la Juventud at 21:00 UTC on October 18. Early on October 20, a tropical storm warning was posted for La Habana, Ciudad de La Habana, and Pinar del Río provinces. The hurricane watch was upgraded to a hurricane warning for Ciudad de la Habana, La Habana, and Pinar del Rio provinces at 21:00 UTC on October 22. All warnings and watches for Cuba were discontinued late on October 24.[1]

Preparations were made to evacuate four western provinces, including the Isle of Youth.[4] In all, over 760,000 people were ordered to evacuate.[5]

The hurricane warning along the east coast stretching from the Jupiter Inlet southward was expended northward to Titusville at 09:00 UTC on October 23. Simultaneously, the portion of the tropical storm watch from Titusville to Flagler Beach was upgraded to a tropical storm warning. The tropical storm warning was extended further northward to St. Augustine at 03:00 UTC on October 24. Twelve hours later, the tropical storm watch was discontinued from St. Augustine to Fernandina Beach. At 17:00 UTC, the tropical storm warning from Longboat Key to the Steinhatchee River was canceled. The remainder of the hurricane warning in effect was downgraded to a tropical storm warning about 90 minutes later. By 21:00 UTC on October 24, all remaining tropical cyclone warnings and watches were discontinued.[1]

Orange juicefutures reached the highest level in six years on October 19, closing up 2.9 cents at US$1.118 per pound.[11] As dynamic models moved the storm's track east over Florida, oil futures eased as worries of another direct hit on the oil-producing regions of the Gulf of Mexico subsided.[12] College and professional hockey games scheduled the weekend before Wilma's landfall were rescheduled for a later time. The professional football game scheduled for Sunday was moved ahead to Friday night. A concert by the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, expected to have taken place October 24, was postponed and later cancelled. Key West's Fantasy Fest held around each Halloween was postponed until December.[13]

At 12:00 UTC on October 23, about 24 hours before Wilma made its closest approach to the archipelago, the government of The Bahamas issued a hurricane warning for the northwestern portion of the territory, including the Abacos, Andros Island, Berry Islands, Bimini, Eleuthera, Grand Bahama, and New Providence.[1] The government of The Bahamas advised citizens to rush preparations to completion, though many failed to fully prepare, believing Wilma would pass through the region as a tropical storm. Many homes failed to board windows or apply hurricane shutters, as well. Officials ordered evacuations for the eastern and western portion of Grand Bahama island, and established multiple shelters on the island.[14] Evacuations were minimal; it is estimated that between 300 and 1,000 people left.[14][15] As most people failed to prepare sufficiently for the hurricane, hardware stores and food markets were generally well-stocked.[14]

In Haiti, the outer bands of Wilma triggered mudslides, killing at least 12 people.[16] Damage in the country totaled around $500,000 (2005 USD).[17]

Wilma caused one death in Jamaica as a tropical depression on October 16. It pounded the island for three days ending on October 18, flooding several low-lying communities and triggering mudslides that blocked roads and damaged several homes. Almost 250 people were in emergency shelters on the island.[18] Damage on the island totaled $93.5 million (2005 USD).[19]

The island of Cozumel is shown through the eye of Hurricane Wilma in this composite image. NOAA

At least eight deaths were reported in Mexico. Five were in the Playa del Carmen area due to a gas explosion caused by the strong winds. Four deaths also were reported in Cozumel and another in Cancún due to wind blowing a window out. Another death, caused by a falling tree, was reported in the state of Yucatán.[20]

Pictures and television reports indicated extensive structural damage throughout the Cancún area, as well as significant flooding and many downed trees, power lines and scattered debris. Several homes had also collapsed. Rainfall amounts in excess of 23 inches (590 mm) were reported in several areas, with Isla Mujeres reporting 64 inches (1,625.6 mm)—five times what Hurricane Gilbert dropped.[21] The station recorded 64.33 inches (1,633.98 mm) over 24 hours, setting a western hemisphere record for the greatest rainfall in that time period.[22] One gymnasium used as a shelter lost its roof, which forced the evacuation of more than 1,000 people staying there.[20] During the storm, waves five to eight meters high (enough to reach the third floor of many hotels) slammed against the coastline.[23] Damage was extensive as well on Cozumel, with many broken windows, fallen trees and power lines, but less structural damage. It was comparable to the scene after Hurricane Emily back in July 2005, a storm of similar intensity at landfall, but faster moving.

Communication was initially limited, as telephone and electric services were completely out in the affected areas; however, in downtown Cancún, some telephone communications remained intact, and tourists went out and risked their lives to contact home. There were also extensive reports of looting of many businesses in Quintana Roo, particularly in Cancún.[20]

After Wilma passed, a sense of desperation developed in the region because people were being held in shelters due to the extensive damage. Thousands of tourists remained stranded in shelters, and the priority was to send them home immediately, according to PresidentVicente Fox. Buses arrived in Cancún from Mérida, where tourists were hoping to find flights home. The United States embassy told tourists to go to Mérida, although the next day they had to change their announcements because Mérida had become so packed with people. The road to Mérida was very dangerous and practically impassable for taxis, yet people dealt with the exorbitant fees being charged for passage.[25]

The destruction left behind by Wilma in the Yucatán severely damaged the tourist industry there, as the storm affected some of the tourist hot spots of Mexico. Damage in Mexico totaled $7.5 billion (2005 USD, $80 billion 2005 MXN), of which $4.6 billion (2005 USD, $50 billion 2005 MXN) was from agricultural damage.[26]

In Cuba, a bus carrying evacuees crashed, killing four people, including three foreign tourists.[27]

Coastal flooding caused by Wilma's storm surge and flooding from the outer bands was reported in many areas, particularly around Havana. More than 250 homes were heavily flooded and rescuers required scuba gear, inflatable rafts, and amphibious vehicles to reach the most severely flooded areas.[28] Havana was also without power and wind damage was reported as a result of winds up to 85 mph (140 km/h).[29] Officials in Cuba estimated total damage to be about $700 million.[5]

At least five hurricane-related deaths were reported in the United States, all in Florida, and there were at least 26 deaths indirectly related to Wilma.[30][31] Damage from Wilma was extensive and widespread over South Florida due to winds and flooding. After the hurricane had passed, a storm surge from the backwash of up to 8 ft (2.4 m) from the Gulf of Mexico inundated a large portion of the lower Keys.[32] The peak of the storm surge occurred when the eye of Wilma had already passed over the Naples area, and the sustained winds during the surge were less than 40 mph (64 km/h).[33]

Hurricane Wilma caused widespread destruction of critical infrastructure, including power, water and sewer systems. Florida Power and Light, the largest electricity utility in the state, reported more than 3,241,000 customers had lost power,[35] equivalent to approximately 6,000,000 people, with most residents getting power restored in 8–15 days. Running water was restored for most residents within 2 days. Broward and Palm Beach counties were hit particularly hard by the many tornadoes in the western portion of the hurricane.[1] Most notably in downtown Fort Lauderdale, there was significant damage to older buildings, including the Broward County Courthouse, School Board Building and taller area office buildings built before the implementation of stricter building codes after Hurricane Andrew. The glass facades in a number of downtown buildings, notably the Templeton Building, were sheared off by high winds.[36]

Few reports of effects from Hurricane Wilma exist in the United States outside of Florida, with minimal impact other than rain recorded in other states. Rainfall had extended into Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia; only a few areas had observed rain greater than two inches (51 mm). Although only one–two inches (25–51 mm) were reported in Georgia and South Carolina, Hurricane Wilma dropped approximately three inches (76 mm) of rain on the Outer Banks of North Carolina on October 25.[37]

The remnants of Wilma combined with a nor'easter, resulting in rainfall, snow, and strong winds across the Mid-Atlantic and New England.

In Massachusetts, there was between 2 and 2.5 in (51 and 64 mm) of rain, damaging winds, and coastal flooding in the eastern half of the state. Wind gusts between 44 and 47 mph (71 and 76 km/h) were common, with a gust as strong as 66 mph (106 km/h) was recorded at the Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory in Milton. The strong winds downed limbs, trees, and wires, resulting in thousands of people without power. In addition, a trailer was blown over on the Bourne Bridge. A tree struck a car in Fall River, while trees fell on houses in Boxford and in Peabody. In Bridgewater, several power poles and trees were toppled. The Green Line trains were blocked in Newton after a tree fell at the Riverside Station. The towns of Hull, Marblehead, Marshfield, Nantucket, Salem, Scituate experienced coastal flooding. Several boats broke from their moorings and washed ashore.[38]

The remnants of Wilma and the nor'easter brought snowfall to southern Vermont from October 25 to October 26. Up to 20 in (510 mm) of snow was accumulated at higher elevations. In Maine, wind gusts between 55 and 65 mph (89 and 105 km/h) occurred near the coast, particularly in the Down East region. The combination of strong winds and saturated ground from prior heavy rainfall over a period of several weeks caused trees and many branches to topple. These falling trees and limbs downed many power lines, resulting in numerous electrical outages. Farther inland, the two systems left 3 to 8 in (76 to 203 mm) of snow in many areas and localized totals of 12 to 16 in (300 to 410 mm) across higher terrain. The snow brought down trees and power lines, leaving about 25,000 customers lost power for varying amounts of time during the storm.[38]

While passing the Bahamas, the hurricane produced hurricane-force winds[39] and a powerful storm surge, flooding southwestern coastal areas of Grand Bahama and destroying hundreds of buildings. In western settlements on the island of Grand Bahama, graves were washed up with skeletal remains lying in the streets. Damage totaled about $100 million (2005 USD, $105 million 2007 USD), almost entirely on the western half of the island. The central portion of Grand Bahama, including in and around Freeport, reported minor to moderate damage, while the eastern end received little to no damage.[40] One child died on the island from the flooding. Elsewhere in the Bahamas, moderate damage occurred on Bimini[15] and Abaco,[41] while islands farther to the south reported minimal wind damage.[15]

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Disaster Medical Assistance Team checks a patient outside of the JFK Medical Center (Boynton Beach). The DMAT is set up in the entry way of the hospital to assist in seeing the increase flow of patients due to Hurricane Wilma.

Florida's sugar industry was greatly affected; the cropping had already started and had to be halted indefinitely. Damage to sugarcane crops was critical and widespread. Citrus canker spread rapidly throughout southern Florida following Hurricane Wilma, creating further hardships on an already stressed citrus economy due to damage from Wilma and previous years' hurricanes. Citrus production estimates fell to a low of 158 million boxes for the 2005–2006 production seasons from a high of 240 million for 2003–2004.[43]

In January 2006, artists were invited to exhibit sculptures inspired by the storm in an outdoor exhibit at Fort Zachary Taylor near the new NWS hurricane and weather forecasting center in Key West, Florida.

By late-September 2010, roughly $9.2 billion had been paid for more than 1 million insurance claims that had been filed throughout Florida in relation to Hurricane Wilma.[44]

The popular Mexican resort towns of Playa del Carmen, Cozumel, and Cancún all suffered significant damage from Wilma, causing a major loss of tourism income. The MTV Video Music Awards Latin America 2005 was to be held October 19 at the Xcaret Eco Park (close to Playa del Carmen) in Quintana Roo, Mexico. The 2005 edition of these awards was postponed, however, because of the approach of Hurricane Wilma toward the Mexican Riviera Maya. MTV had moved the date from October 20 to 19 in an attempt to avoid the hurricane, but eventually decided to cancel the show. The 2005 edition eventually took place using a modified format on December 22.

The United States offered emergency aid to Cuba, and to the surprise of the State Department, the Cuban government accepted. Many times in the past, including during Hurricane Dennis, the United States offered aid, but the Cuban government declined. The State Department sent three damage assessors to Havana to determine their needs.[45]

The storm was named "Wilma," the first time the 'W' name was used in the Atlantic Basin since alphabetical naming began in 1950. With Wilma, the 2005 hurricane season broke the record for most storms in a season previously held by the 1933 season. Moving slowly over warm water with little wind shear, Wilma strengthened steadily and became a hurricane on October 18. The thirteenth hurricane of the season, Wilma broke the record set in 1969 for most storms of hurricane strength in one season for the Atlantic Basin.

The barometric pressure measured in Wilma, 882 mbar (26.05 inHg), is currently the lowest recorded pressure for a tropical cyclone in the Atlantic Basin, as well as the second-lowest pressure for any cyclone measured in the Western Hemisphere, only after Hurricane Patricia ten years later in the Eastern Pacific. It also reached its 882 mbar (26.05 inHg) pressure in a span of 24 hours, making it the fastest pressure drop of any storm in the Atlantic Basin, although Hurricane Felix of 2007 reached a greater windspeed rise in 51 hours. At its peak intensity, the eye of Wilma was about 2.3 miles (3.7 km) in diameter, the smallest known eye of a tropical cyclone.[1] In Mexico, Isla Mujeres reported 64 inches (1,625.6 mm) of rainfall—five times what Hurricane Gilbert dropped. This set a 24-hour rainfall record for the country of Mexico, and was the highest point total for rainfall from a tropical cyclone since Hurricane Mitch in 1998. Wilma is also the costliest hurricane in Mexican history.

Wilma was the first retired "W" name since the World Meteorological Organization started retiring names in 1954, it was the strongest Atlantic hurricane to be retired, and when it was retired, it made 2005 the season with the most retired names, with five; the old record was a three-way tie with four names retired in 1955, 1995, and 2004. Wilma was replaced with the name Whitney. Had the unnamed 2005 Azores subtropical storm been operationally recognized it would have been named Subtropical Storm Tammy, and storms forming after October 4 would have been moved one name down the list. Wilma would have consequently been given the name Alpha, in accordance with the convention to name tropical cyclones after the Greek alphabet if the scheduled list of names runs out.[48][49]

1.
Honduras
–
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a republic in Central America. It has at times referred to as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras. Honduras was home to several important Mesoamerican cultures, most notably the Maya, the Spanish introduced Roman Catholicism and the now predominant Spanish language, along with numerous customs that have blended with the indigenous culture. Honduras has the worlds highest murder rate, Honduras spans about 112,492 km2 and has a population exceeding 8 million. Its northern portions are part of the Western Caribbean Zone, as reflected in the areas demographics and culture. Honduras is known for its natural resources, including minerals, coffee, tropical fruit, and sugar cane, as well as for its growing textiles industry. Honduras literally means depths in Spanish, the name could either refer to the bay of Trujillo as an anchorage, fondura in the Leonese dialect of Spanish, or to Columbuss alleged quote that Gracias a Dios que hemos salido de esas Honduras. It was not until the end of the 16th century that Honduras was used for the whole province, prior to 1580, Honduras only referred to the eastern part of the province, and Higueras referred to the western part. Another early name is Guaymuras, revived as the name for the dialogue in 2009 that took place in Honduras as opposed to Costa Rica. In pre-Columbian times, modern Honduras was part of the Mesoamerican cultural area, in the west, the Maya civilization flourished for hundreds of years. The dominant state within Hondurass borders was in Copán, Copán fell with the other Lowland centres during the conflagrations of the Terminal Classic in the 9th century. The Maya of this civilization survive in western Honduras as the Chorti, remains of other Pre-Columbian cultures are found throughout the country. On 30 July 1502 Columbus sent his brother Bartholomew to explore the islands and Bartholomew encountered a Mayan trading vessel from Yucatán, carrying well-dressed Maya and a rich cargo. Bartholomews men stole whatever cargo they wanted and kidnapped the elderly captain to serve as an interpreter in what was the first recorded encounter between the Spanish and the Maya. In March 1524, Gil González Dávila became the first Spaniard to enter Honduras as a conquistador, followed by Hernán Cortés, bringing forces down from Mexico. Much of the conquest was done in the two decades, first by groups loyal to Cristóbal de Olid, and then by those loyal of Francisco Montejo. In addition to Spanish resources, the conquerors relied heavily on armed forces from Mexico—Tlaxcalans, resistance to conquest was led in particular by Lempira, and many regions in the north never fell to the Spanish, notably the Miskito Kingdom. After the Spanish conquest, Honduras became part of Spains vast empire in the New World within the Kingdom of Guatemala, Trujillo and Gracias were the first city-capitals

2.
Extratropical cyclone
–
Extratropical cyclones are capable of producing anything from cloudiness and mild showers to heavy gales, thunderstorms, blizzards, and tornadoes. These types of cyclones are defined as large scale low pressure systems that occur in the middle latitudes of the Earth. In contrast with tropical cyclones, extratropical cyclones produce rapid changes in temperature and dew point along broad lines, called weather fronts, the term cyclone applies to numerous types of low pressure areas, one of which is the extratropical cyclone. The descriptor extratropical signifies that this type of cyclone generally occurs outside the tropics and they are termed mid-latitude cyclones if they form within those latitudes, or post-tropical cyclones if a tropical cyclone has intruded into the mid latitudes. Weather forecasters and the public often describe them simply as depressions or lows. Terms like frontal cyclone, frontal depression, frontal low, extratropical low, non-tropical low, Extratropical cyclones are classified mainly as baroclinic, because they form along zones of temperature and dewpoint gradient known as frontal zones. They can become barotropic late in their cycle, when the distribution of heat around the cyclone becomes fairly uniform with its radius. Extratropical cyclones form anywhere within the regions of the Earth. A study of extratropical cyclones in the Southern Hemisphere shows that between the 30th and 70th parallels, there are an average of 37 cyclones in existence during any 6-hour period, a separate study in the Northern Hemisphere suggests that approximately 234 significant extratropical cyclones form each winter. Extratropical cyclones form along linear bands of temperature/dewpoint gradient with significant vertical wind shear, initially, cyclogenesis, or low pressure formation, occurs along frontal zones near a favorable quadrant of a maximum in the upper level jetstream known as a jet streak. The favorable quadrants are usually at the rear and left front quadrants. The divergence causes air to rush out from the top of the air column and this in turn forces convergence in the low-level wind field and increased upward motion within the column. The increased upward motion causes atmospheric pressure at ground level to lower and this is because the upward air motion counteracts gravity, lessening the weight of the atmosphere in that location. The lowered pressure strengthens the cyclone, as the cyclone strengthens, the cold front sweeps towards the equator and moves around the back of the cyclone. Meanwhile, its associated warm front progresses more slowly, as the air ahead of the system is denser. Later, the cyclones occlude as the portion of the cold front overtakes a section of the warm front, forcing a tongue, or trowal. Eventually, the cyclone will become cold and begin to weaken. Atmospheric pressure can fall very rapidly when there are upper level forces on the system

3.
Bar (unit)
–
The bar is a metric unit of pressure, but is not approved as part of the International System of Units. It is defined as equal to 100000 Pa, which is slightly less than the current average atmospheric pressure on Earth at sea level. The bar and the millibar were introduced by the Norwegian meteorologist Vilhelm Bjerknes, use of the bar is deprecated by some professional bodies in some fields. The International Astronomical Union also lists it under Non-SI units and symbols whose continued use is deprecated, as of 2004, the bar is legally recognized in countries of the European Union. Units derived from the bar include the megabar, kilobar, decibar, centibar, the notation bar, though deprecated by various bodies, represents gauge pressure, i. e. pressure in bars above ambient or atmospheric pressure. The bar is defined using the SI derived unit, pascal,1 bar ≡100000 Pa. Thus,1 bar is equal to,100 kPa 1×105 N/m21000000 Ba, notes,1 millibar =1 one-thousandth bar, or 1×10−3 bar 1 millibar =1 hectopascal. The word bar has its origin in the Greek word βάρος, the units official symbol is bar, the earlier symbol b is now deprecated and conflicts with the use of b denoting the unit barn, but it is still encountered, especially as mb to denote the millibar. Between 1793 and 1795, the bar was used for a unit of weight in an early version of the metric system. Atmospheric air pressure is given in millibars where standard sea level pressure is defined as 1013 mbar,101.3,1.013 bar. Despite the millibar not being an SI unit, meteorologists and weather reporters worldwide have long measured air pressure in millibars as the values are convenient, for example, the weather office of Environment Canada uses kilopascals and hectopascals on their weather maps. In contrast, Americans are familiar with the use of the millibar in US reports of hurricanes, in fresh water, there is an approximate numerical equivalence between the change in pressure in decibars and the change in depth from the water surface in metres. Specifically, an increase of 1 decibar occurs for every 1.019716 m increase in depth, in sea water with respect to the gravity variation, the latitude and the geopotential anomaly the pressure can be converted into meters depth according to an empirical formula. As a result, decibars are commonly used in oceanography, many engineers worldwide use the bar as a unit of pressure because, in much of their work, using pascals would involve using very large numbers. In the automotive field, turbocharger boost is often described in bars outside the USA), unicode has characters for mb and bar, but they exist only for compatibility with legacy Asian encodings and are not intended to be used in new documents. The kilobar, equivalent to 100 MPa, is used in geological systems. Bar and bara are sometimes used to indicate absolute pressures and bar and this usage is deprecated and fuller descriptions such as gauge pressure of 2 bar or 2 bar gauge are recommended.0 Unported License but not under the GFDL. Non-SI units accepted for use with the SI

4.
Pascal (unit)
–
The pascal is the SI derived unit of pressure used to quantify internal pressure, stress, Youngs modulus and ultimate tensile strength. It is defined as one newton per square meter and it is named after the French polymath Blaise Pascal. Common multiple units of the pascal are the hectopascal which is equal to one millibar, the unit of measurement called standard atmosphere is defined as 101,325 Pa and approximates to the average pressure at sea-level at the latitude 45° N. Meteorological reports typically state atmospheric pressure in hectopascals, the unit is named after Blaise Pascal, noted for his contributions to hydrodynamics and hydrostatics, and experiments with a barometer. The name pascal was adopted for the SI unit newton per square metre by the 14th General Conference on Weights, one pascal is the pressure exerted by a force of magnitude one newton perpendicularly upon an area of one square metre. The unit of measurement called atmosphere or standard atmosphere is 101325 Pa and this value is often used as a reference pressure and specified as such in some national and international standards, such as ISO2787, ISO2533 and ISO5024. In contrast, IUPAC recommends the use of 100 kPa as a standard pressure when reporting the properties of substances, geophysicists use the gigapascal in measuring or calculating tectonic stresses and pressures within the Earth. Medical elastography measures tissue stiffness non-invasively with ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging, in materials science and engineering, the pascal measures the stiffness, tensile strength and compressive strength of materials. In engineering use, because the pascal represents a small quantity. The pascal is also equivalent to the SI unit of energy density and this applies not only to the thermodynamics of pressurised gases, but also to the energy density of electric, magnetic, and gravitational fields. In measurements of sound pressure, or loudness of sound, one pascal is equal to 94 decibels SPL, the quietest sound a human can hear, known as the threshold of hearing, is 0 dB SPL, or 20 µPa. The airtightness of buildings is measured at 50 Pa, the units of atmospheric pressure commonly used in meteorology were formerly the bar, which was close to the average air pressure on Earth, and the millibar. Since the introduction of SI units, meteorologists generally measure pressures in hectopascals unit, exceptions include Canada and Portugal, which use kilopascals. In many other fields of science, the SI is preferred, many countries also use the millibar or hectopascal to give aviation altimeter settings. In practically all fields, the kilopascal is used instead. Centimetre of water Metric prefix Orders of magnitude Pascals law

5.
Atlantic hurricane
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An Atlantic hurricane or tropical storm is a tropical cyclone that forms in the Atlantic Ocean, usually in the summer or fall. A hurricane differs from a cyclone or typhoon only on the basis of location, a hurricane is a storm that occurs in the Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Pacific Ocean, a typhoon occurs in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, and a cyclone occurs in the south Pacific or Indian Ocean. Tropical cyclones can be categorized by intensity, Tropical storms have one-minute maximum sustained winds of at least 39 mph, while hurricanes have one-minute maximum sustained winds exceeding 74 mph. Most North Atlantic tropical storms and hurricanes form between June 1 and November 30, in recent times, tropical disturbances that reach tropical storm intensity are named from a predetermined list. On average, in the North Atlantic basin 11.3 named storms occur each season, the climatological peak of activity is around September 11 each season. In March 2004, Catarina was the first hurricane-intensity tropical cyclone recorded in the Southern Atlantic Ocean. Tropical cyclones are steered by the flow throughout the depth of the troposphere. Specifically, air flow around high pressure systems and toward low pressure areas influence hurricane tracks, south of the subtropical ridge, surface easterly winds prevail. If the subtropical ridge is weakened by a trough, a tropical cyclone may turn poleward and then recurve. Poleward of the ridge, westerly winds prevail and generally steer tropical cyclones that reach northern latitudes toward the east. The westerlies also steer extratropical cyclones with their cold and warm fronts from west to east, generally speaking, the intensity of a tropical cyclone is determined by either the storms maximum sustained winds or lowest barometric pressure. The following table lists the most intense Atlantic hurricanes in terms of their lowest barometric pressure, in terms of wind speed, Hurricane Allen was the strongest Atlantic tropical cyclone on record, with maximum sustained winds of 190 mph. However, these measurements are suspect since instrumentation used to document wind speeds at the time would likely succumb to winds of such intensity, nonetheless, their central pressures are low enough to rank them among the strongest recorded Atlantic hurricanes. Owing to their intensity, the strongest Atlantic hurricanes have all attained Category 5 classification, Hurricane Opal, the strongest Category 4 hurricane recorded, intensified to reach a minimum pressure of 916 mbar, a pressure typical of Category 5 hurricanes. Nonetheless, the pressure remains too high to list Opal as one of the ten strongest Atlantic tropical cyclones, however, this was later superseded by Hurricane Patricia in 2015 in the east Pacific, which had a pressure reading of 872 mbar. Preceding Wilma is Hurricane Gilbert, which had held the record for most intense Atlantic hurricane for 17 years. The 1935 Labor Day hurricane, with a pressure of 892 mbar, is the third strongest Atlantic hurricane, since the measurements taken during Wilma and Gilbert were documented using dropsonde, this pressure remains the lowest measured over land. However, with a pressure of 895 mbar, Rita is the strongest tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Gulf of Mexico

6.
United States dollar
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The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States and its insular territories per the United States Constitution. It is divided into 100 smaller cent units, the circulating paper money consists of Federal Reserve Notes that are denominated in United States dollars. The U. S. dollar was originally commodity money of silver as enacted by the Coinage Act of 1792 which determined the dollar to be 371 4/16 grain pure or 416 grain standard silver, the currency most used in international transactions, it is the worlds primary reserve currency. Several countries use it as their currency, and in many others it is the de facto currency. Besides the United States, it is used as the sole currency in two British Overseas Territories in the Caribbean, the British Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands. A few countries use the Federal Reserve Notes for paper money, while the country mints its own coins, or also accepts U. S. coins that can be used as payment in U. S. dollars. After Nixon shock of 1971, USD became fiat currency, Article I, Section 8 of the U. S. Constitution provides that the Congress has the power To coin money, laws implementing this power are currently codified at 31 U. S. C. Section 5112 prescribes the forms in which the United States dollars should be issued and these coins are both designated in Section 5112 as legal tender in payment of debts. The Sacagawea dollar is one example of the copper alloy dollar, the pure silver dollar is known as the American Silver Eagle. Section 5112 also provides for the minting and issuance of other coins and these other coins are more fully described in Coins of the United States dollar. The Constitution provides that a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and that provision of the Constitution is made specific by Section 331 of Title 31 of the United States Code. The sums of money reported in the Statements are currently being expressed in U. S. dollars, the U. S. dollar may therefore be described as the unit of account of the United States. The word dollar is one of the words in the first paragraph of Section 9 of Article I of the Constitution, there, dollars is a reference to the Spanish milled dollar, a coin that had a monetary value of 8 Spanish units of currency, or reales. In 1792 the U. S. Congress passed a Coinage Act, Section 20 of the act provided, That the money of account of the United States shall be expressed in dollars, or units. And that all accounts in the offices and all proceedings in the courts of the United States shall be kept and had in conformity to this regulation. In other words, this act designated the United States dollar as the unit of currency of the United States, unlike the Spanish milled dollar the U. S. dollar is based upon a decimal system of values. Both one-dollar coins and notes are produced today, although the form is significantly more common

7.
Hispaniola
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Hispaniola is the 22nd-largest island in the world, located in the Caribbean island group, the Greater Antilles. It is the second largest island in the Caribbean after Cuba, two sovereign nations share the 76, 192-square-kilometre island. The only other shared island in the Caribbean is Saint Martin, Hispaniola is the site of the first permanent European settlement in the Americas, founded by Christopher Columbus on his voyages in 1492 and 1493. The island was called by various names by its native people, fernández de Oviedo and de las Casas both recorded that the island was called Haiti by the Taíno. DAnghiera added another name, Quizqueia, but later shows that the word does not seem to derive from the original Arawak Taíno language. When Columbus took possession of the island in 1492, he named it Insula Hispana, meaning the Spanish Island in Latin and La Isla Española, meaning the Spanish Island, in Spanish. De las Casas shortened the name to Española, and when d‘Anghiera detailed his account of the island in Latin, he rendered its name as Hispaniola. Due to Taíno, Spanish and French influences on the island, historically the whole island was referred to as Haiti, Hayti, Santo Domingo, St. Domingue. The name Haïti was adopted by Haitian revolutionary Jean-Jacques Dessalines in 1804, as the name of independent Saint-Domingue. It was also adopted as the name of independent Santo Domingo, as the Republic of Spanish Haiti. Christopher Columbus inadvertently landed on the island during his first voyage across the Atlantic in 1492, where his flagship, a contingent of men were left at an outpost christened La Navidad, on the north coast of present-day Haiti. The island was inhabited by the Taíno, one of the indigenous Arawak peoples, the Taino were at first tolerant of Columbus and his crew, and helped him to construct La Navidad on what is now Môle-Saint-Nicolas, Haiti, in December 1492. European colonization of the began in earnest the following year. In 1496 the town of Nueva Isabela was founded, after being destroyed by a hurricane, it was rebuilt on the opposite side of the Ozama River and called Santo Domingo. It is the oldest permanent European settlement in the Americas, several 16th century writers estimated the 1492 population of Hispaniola at over 1 million people. Twentieth-century estimates of the range from 60,000 to 8,000,000. Harsh enslavement by Spanish colonists, redirection of food supplies and labor towards the colonists, had a impact on both mortality and fertility over the first quarter century. Colonial administrators and Dominican and Hyeronimite priests observed that the search for gold, demographic data from two provinces in 1514 shows a low birth rate consistent with a 3. 5% annual population decline

8.
Jamaica
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Jamaica is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea, consisting of the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles. The island,10,990 square kilometres in area, lies about 145 kilometres south of Cuba, Jamaica is the fourth-largest island country in the Caribbean, by area. Inhabited by the indigenous Arawak and Taíno peoples, the island came under Spanish rule following the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1494, Many of the indigenous people died of disease, and the Spanish imported African slaves as labourers. Named Santiago, the island remained a possession of Spain until 1655, under British colonial rule Jamaica became a leading sugar exporter, with its plantation economy highly dependent on slaves imported from Africa. The British fully emancipated all slaves in 1838, and many chose to have subsistence farms rather than to work on plantations. Beginning in the 1840s, the British imported Chinese and Indian indentured labour to work on plantations, the island achieved independence from the United Kingdom on 6 August 1962. With 2.8 million people, Jamaica is the third-most populous Anglophone country in the Americas, Kingston is the countrys capital and largest city, with a population of 937,700. Jamaicans predominately have African ancestry, with significant European, Chinese, Hakka, Indian, due to a high rate of emigration for work since the 1960s, Jamaica has a large diaspora around the world, particularly in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Jamaica is a Commonwealth realm, with Queen Elizabeth II as its monarch and her appointed representative in the country is the Governor-General of Jamaica, an office held by Sir Patrick Allen since 2009. Andrew Holness has served as the head of government and Prime Minister of Jamaica from March 2016, the indigenous people, the Taíno, called it Xaymaca in Arawakan, meaning the Land of Wood and Water or the Land of Springs. Colloquially Jamaicans refer to their island as the Rock. Slang names such as Jamrock, Jamdown, or briefly Ja, have derived from this, the Arawak and Taíno indigenous people, originating in South America, settled on the island between 4000 and 1000 BC. When Christopher Columbus arrived in 1494, there were more than 200 villages ruled by caciques, the south coast of Jamaica was the most populated, especially around the area now known as Old Harbour. The Taino still inhabited Jamaica when the English took control of the island in 1655, the Jamaican National Heritage Trust is attempting to locate and document any evidence of the Taino/Arawak. Christopher Columbus claimed Jamaica for Spain after landing there in 1494 and his probable landing point was Dry Harbour, now called Discovery Bay, although there is some debate that it might have been St. Anns Bay. St. Anns Bay was named Saint Gloria by Columbus, as the first sighting of the land, the capital was moved to Spanish Town, then called St. Jago de la Vega, around 1534. Spanish Town has the oldest cathedral of the British colonies in the Caribbean, the Spanish were forcibly evicted by the English at Ocho Rios in St. Ann. In 1655, the English, led by Sir William Penn and General Robert Venables, the English continued to import African slaves as labourers

9.
Cuba
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Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is a country comprising the island of Cuba as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located in the northern Caribbean where the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and it is south of both the U. S. state of Florida and the Bahamas, west of Haiti, and north of Jamaica. Havana is the largest city and capital, other cities include Santiago de Cuba. Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean, with an area of 109,884 square kilometres, prior to Spanish colonization in the late 15th century, Cuba was inhabited by Amerindian tribes. It remained a colony of Spain until the Spanish–American War of 1898, as a fragile republic, Cuba attempted to strengthen its democratic system, but mounting political radicalization and social strife culminated in the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in 1952. Further unrest and instability led to Batistas ousting in January 1959 by the July 26 Movement, since 1965, the state has been governed by the Communist Party of Cuba. A point of contention during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, a nuclear war broke out during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Culturally, Cuba is considered part of Latin America, Cuba is a Marxist–Leninist one-party republic, where the role of the vanguard Communist Party is enshrined in the Constitution. Independent observers have accused the Cuban government of human rights abuses. It is one of the worlds last planned economies and its economy is dominated by the exports of sugar, tobacco, coffee, according to the Human Development Index, Cuba is described as a country with high human development and is ranked the eighth highest in North America. It also ranks highly in some metrics of national performance, including health care, the name Cuba comes from the Taíno language. The exact meaning of the name is unclear but it may be translated either as where fertile land is abundant, authors who believe that Christopher Columbus was Portuguese state that Cuba was named by Columbus for the town of Cuba in the district of Beja in Portugal. Before the arrival of the Spanish, Cuba was inhabited by three distinct tribes of indigenous peoples of the Americas, the Taíno, the Guanajatabey, and the Ciboney people. The ancestors of the Ciboney migrated from the mainland of South America, the Taíno arrived from Hispanola sometime in the 3rd century A. D. When Columbus arrived they were the dominant culture in Cuba, having a population of 150,000. The name Cuba comes from the native Taíno language and it is derived from either coabana meaning great place, or from cubao meaning where fertile land is abundant. The Taíno were farmers, while the Ciboney were farmers as well as fishers and hunter-gatherers, Columbus claimed the island for the new Kingdom of Spain and named it Isla Juana after Juan, Prince of Asturias. In 1511, the first Spanish settlement was founded by Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar at Baracoa, other towns soon followed, including San Cristobal de la Habana, founded in 1515, which later became the capital

10.
Cayman Islands
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The Cayman Islands is a British Overseas Territory in the western Caribbean Sea. Its population is approximately 60,000, and its capital is George Town, the Cayman Islands are considered to be part of the geographic Western Caribbean Zone as well as the Greater Antilles. The territory is considered a major world offshore financial haven for many wealthy individuals. The Cayman Islands remained largely uninhabited until the 17th century, the first recorded permanent inhabitant of the Cayman Islands, Isaac Bodden, was born on Grand Cayman around 1661. He was the grandson of the original settler named Bodden who was one of Oliver Cromwells soldiers at the taking of Jamaica in 1655. England took formal control of the Cayman Islands, along with Jamaica, following several unsuccessful attempts at settlement, a permanent English-speaking population in the islands dates from the 1730s. With settlement, after the first royal land grant by the Governor of Jamaica in 1734, many were brought to the islands from Africa, this is evident today with the majority of native Caymanians being of African and English descent. The results of the first census taken in the islands in 1802 showed the population on Grand Cayman to be 933 with 545 of those inhabitants being enslaved, slavery was abolished in the Cayman Islands in 1833. At the time of abolition, there were over 950 Blacks of African ancestry enslaved by 116 white families of English ancestry. The islands continued to be governed as part of the Colony of Jamaica until 1962, the Cayman Islands historically have been a tax-exempt destination. On 8 February 1794, the Caymanians rescued the crews of a group of ten merchant ships, including HMS Convert, the ships had struck a reef and run aground during rough seas. Legend has it that King George III rewarded the island with a never to introduce taxes as compensation for their generosity. While this remains a legend, the story is not true. However, whatever the history, in practice the government of the Cayman Islands has always relied on indirect, the islands have never levied income tax, capital gains tax, or any wealth tax, making them a popular tax haven. On 11 September 2004 the island of Grand Cayman, which lies largely unprotected at sea level, was hit by Hurricane Ivan, an estimated 83% of the dwellings on the island were damaged including 4% requiring complete reconstruction. A reported 70% of all dwellings suffered severe damage from flooding or wind, another 26% sustained minor damage from partial roof removal, low levels of flooding, or impact with floating or wind driven hurricane debris. Power, water and communications were disrupted for months in areas as Ivan was the worst hurricane to hit the islands in 86 years. Grand Cayman began a rebuilding process and within two years its infrastructure was nearly returned to pre-hurricane status.23 years

11.
Belize
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Belize, formerly British Honduras, is an independent country on the eastern coast of Central America. Belize is bordered on the north by Mexico, on the south and west by Guatemala and its mainland is about 290 km long and 110 km wide. Belize has an area of 22,800 square kilometres and a population of 368,310 and it has the lowest population density in Central America. The countrys population growth rate of 1. 87% per year is the second highest in the region, Belizes abundance of terrestrial and marine species and its diversity of ecosystems gives it a key place in the globally significant Mesoamerican Biological Corridor. Belize has a society, composed of many cultures and languages that reflect its rich history. English is the language of Belize, with Belizean Kriol being the unofficial language. Over half the population is multilingual, with Spanish being the second most common spoken language, Belize is considered a Central American and Caribbean nation with strong ties to both the Latin American and Caribbean regions. Belize is a Commonwealth realm, with Queen Elizabeth II as its monarch, Belize is known for its September Celebrations, its extensive coral reefs, and punta music. The origin of the name Belize remains unclear, the earliest known record of the name appears in the journal of the Dominican priest Fray José Delgado, dating to 1677. Delgado recorded the names of three rivers that he crossed while travelling north along the Caribbean coast, Rio Soyte, Rio Xibum. The names of these waterways, which correspond to the Sittee River, Sibun River and it is likely that Delgados Balis was actually the Mayan word belix, meaning muddy-watered. Others have suggested that the name derives from a Spanish pronunciation of the name of the Scottish buccaneer Peter Wallace, there is no proof that Wallace settled in this area and some scholars have characterized this claim as a myth. Writers and historians have suggested other possible etymologies, including postulated French. Many aspects of this culture persist in the area despite nearly 500 years of European domination, prior to about 2500 BC, some hunting and foraging bands settled in small farming villages, they later domesticated crops such as corn, beans, squash, and chili peppers. A profusion of languages and subcultures developed within the Maya core culture, between about 2500 BC and 250 AD, the basic institutions of Maya civilisation emerged. The peak of this occurred during the classic period, which began about 250 AD. The Maya civilisation spread across what is now Belize around 1500 BC, the recorded history of the middle and southern regions is dominated by Caracol, an urban political centre that may have supported over 140,000 people. North of the Maya Mountains, the most important political centre was Lamanai, in the late Classic Era of Maya civilisation, as many as 1 million people may have lived in the area that is now Belize

12.
South Florida
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South Florida is a region of the U. S. state of Florida, comprising the southernmost part of the state. It is one of Floridas three most common directional regions, the others being Central Florida and North Florida and it includes the populous Miami metropolitan area, the Florida Keys, and other localities. South Florida is the part of the continental United States with a tropical climate. As with all regions, South Florida has no official boundaries or status and is defined differently by different sources. A2007 study of Floridas regions by Ary Lamme and Raymond K. Oldakowski found that Floridians surveyed identified South Florida as comprising the southernmost sections of peninsular Florida and that area includes the Miami metropolitan area, the Florida Keys, and the interior region known as the Glades. Additionally, Southwest Florida, representing the states southern Gulf Coast, has emerged as a vernacular region. Some respondents from as far northwest as the southern Tampa Bay area identified their region as being in South Florida rather than Southwest or Central Florida, some entities alternately designate this region South Florida. Its definition includes much of the territory as Lamme and Oldakowskis report as well as additional area. It includes Monroe County and the three counties of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach, as well as the three Treasure Coast counties of Indian River, St. Lucie, and Martin to the north. The demographics of South Florida residents can be segmented as following, the Miami accent is a regional accent of the American English dialect spoken in South Florida, particularly in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, and Monroe counties. The accent was born in central Miami, but has expanded to much of South Florida in the past few decades, the Miami accent is most prevalent in younger, native south Floridians. Lamme and Oldakowski identify several demographic, political, and cultural elements that characterize South Florida, politically, South Florida is more liberal than the rest of the state. While less than 10% of people in either North or Central Florida felt their area was liberal, 38% characterized the area as conservative, 26% as moderate. The economy in South Florida is very similar to that in Central Florida, compared to the more diversified economy in North Florida, tourism is by far the most significant industry in South and Central Florida, with a much smaller but vibrant agricultural industry. Lamme and Oldakowskis survey also found some cultural indicators distinguishing South Florida, South Florida is the only region of the state where ethnic foods are as popular as general American cuisine. Additionally, while there was little variation for most styles of music. Country was significantly less popular in South Florida than in North or Central Florida, the Anthony J. Catanese Center for Urban and Environmental Solutions at Florida Atlantic University notes the unusual growth pattern of South Florida. The developed area is urbanized and increasingly continuous and decentralized

13.
Bahamas
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The Bahamas, known officially as the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is an archipelagic state within the Lucayan Archipelago. The capital is Nassau on the island of New Providence, the designation of the Bahamas can refer either to the country or to the larger island chain that it shares with the Turks and Caicos Islands. As stated in the mandate/manifesto of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, the Bahamas is the site of Columbus first landfall in the New World in 1492. At that time, the islands were inhabited by the Lucayan, although the Spanish never colonised the Bahamas, they shipped the native Lucayans to slavery in Hispaniola. The islands were mostly deserted from 1513 until 1648, when English colonists from Bermuda settled on the island of Eleuthera, the Bahamas became a British Crown colony in 1718, when the British clamped down on piracy. After the American War of Independence, the Crown resettled thousands of American Loyalists in the Bahamas, they brought their slaves with them, Africans constituted the majority of the population from this period. Slavery in the Bahamas was abolished in 1834, Today the descendants of slaves and free Africans make up nearly 90% of the population, issues related to the slavery years are part of society. The Bahamas became an independent Commonwealth realm in 1973, retaining Queen Elizabeth II as its monarch, in terms of gross domestic product per capita, the Bahamas is one of the richest countries in the Americas, with an economy based on tourism and finance. The name Bahamas is derived from either the Taino ba ha ma, alternatively, it may originate from Guanahani, a local name of unclear meaning. In English, the Bahamas is one of two countries whose self-standing short name begins with the word the, along with The Gambia. Taino people moved into the uninhabited southern Bahamas from Hispaniola and Cuba around the 11th century and they came to be known as the Lucayan people. An estimated 30,000 Lucayan inhabited the Bahamas at the time of Christopher Columbus arrival in 1492, Columbuss first landfall in the New World was on an island he named San Salvador. Some researchers believe this site to be present-day San Salvador Island, an alternative theory holds that Columbus landed to the southeast on Samana Cay, according to calculations made in 1986 by National Geographic writer and editor Joseph Judge, based on Columbuss log. Evidence in support of this remains inconclusive, on the landfall island, Columbus made first contact with the Lucayan and exchanged goods with them. The Spanish forced much of the Lucayan population to Hispaniola for use as forced labour, the slaves suffered from harsh conditions and most died from contracting diseases to which they had no immunity, half of the Taino died from smallpox alone. The population of the Bahamas was severely diminished, in 1648, the Eleutherian Adventurers, led by William Sayle, migrated from Bermuda. These English Puritans established the first permanent European settlement on an island which they named Eleuthera—the name derives from the Greek word for freedom and they later settled New Providence, naming it Sayles Island after one of their leaders. To survive, the settlers salvaged goods from wrecks, in 1670 King Charles II granted the islands to the Lords Proprietors of the Carolinas in North America

14.
Atlantic Canada
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The population of the four Atlantic provinces in 2016 was about 2,300,000 on half a million km2. The provinces combined had an approximate GDP of $110.308 billion in 2011, the first Premier of Newfoundland, Joey Smallwood, coined the term Atlantic Canada when Newfoundland joined the Dominion of Canada in 1949. Today Atlantic Canada is a distinct region of Canada, with the original founding cultures of Celtic, English and French remaining strong. Although Quebec has physical Atlantic coasts on the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Ungava Bay,2016 census figures for Metropolitan Areas and Population Centres in Atlantic Canada. The list includes communities above 15,000, by Metropolitan Area population, or 10,000 by Population Centre population

15.
New Brunswick
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New Brunswick is one of Canadas three Maritime provinces and is the only constitutionally bilingual province. In the Canada 2016 Census, Statistics Canada estimated the population to have been 747,101, down very slightly from 751,171 in 2011. The majority of the population is English-speaking of Anglo and Celtic heritage and it was created as a result of the partitioning of the British colony of Nova Scotia in 1784 and was originally named New Ireland with the capital to be in Saint John. The name was replaced with New Brunswick by King George II. The provincial flag features a ship superimposed on a background with a yellow lion passant guardant on red pennon above it. The province is named for the city of Braunschweig, known in English and Low German as Brunswick, located in modern-day Lower Saxony in northern Germany. The then-colony was named in 1784 to honour the reigning British monarch, George III, the original First Nations inhabitants of New Brunswick were members of three distinct tribes. The largest tribe was the Mikmaq, and they occupied the eastern and they were responsible for the Augustine Mound, a burial ground built about 800 BCE near Metepnákiaq. The western portion of the province was the home of the Wolastoqiyik people. The smaller Passamaquoddy tribe occupied lands in the southwest of the province. The next French contact was in 1604, when a party led by Pierre du Gua de Monts and Samuel de Champlain set up camp for the winter on St. Croix Island, the colony relocated the following year across the Bay of Fundy to Port Royal, Nova Scotia. The whole maritime region was at that time claimed by France and was designated as the colony of Acadia, one of the provisions of the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713 was the surrender of Acadia to Queen Anne. The bulk of the Acadian population thus found themselves residing in the new British colony of Nova Scotia, the remainder of Acadia was only lightly populated and poorly defended. The Maliseet from their headquarters at Meductic on the Saint John River, participated in guerilla raids and battles against New England during Father Rales War. About 1750, to protect his interests in New France, Louis XV caused three forts to be built along the Isthmus of Chignecto and this caused what is known to historians as Father Le Loutres War. During the French and Indian War, the British completed their displacement of the Acadians over all of present-day New Brunswick, Fort Beauséjour, Fort Menagoueche and Fort Gaspareaux were captured by a British force commanded by Lt. Col. Robert Monckton in 1755. Inside Fort Beauséjour, the British forces found not only French regular troops, Governor Charles Lawrence of Nova Scotia used the discovery of Acadian civilians helping in the defence of the fort to order the expulsion of the Acadian population from Nova Scotia. The Acadians of the recently captured Beaubassin and Petitcodiac regions were included in the expulsion order, other actions in the war included British expeditions up the Saint John River in the St. John River Campaign

16.
2005 Atlantic hurricane season
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The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the most active Atlantic hurricane season in recorded history, shattering numerous records. The impact of the season was widespread and ruinous with an estimated 3,913 deaths, of the storms that made landfall, five of the seasons seven major hurricanes—Dennis, Emily, Katrina, Rita, and Wilma—were responsible for most of the destruction. Furthermore, Hurricane Stan combined with a system to cause deadly mudslides across Central America. The 2005 season was the first to observe more tropical cyclones in the Atlantic than the West Pacific, on average, the season officially began on June 1,2005, and lasted until November 30, although it effectively persisted into January 2006 due to continued storm activity. A record twenty-eight tropical and subtropical storms formed, of which a record fifteen became hurricanes, among these Category 5 storms were hurricanes Katrina and Wilma, respectively the costliest and the most intense Atlantic hurricanes on record. This year was notable because the list of storm names was used up. Governments National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, prior to and during the 2005 season, Gray issued four forecasts, each time increasing the predicted level of activity. The NOAA issued two forecasts, one shortly before the season and one two months into the season, drastically increasing the level of activity in the second release. Nonetheless, all forecasts fell far short of the activity of the season. On December 3,2004, Grays team issued its first extended-range forecast for the 2005 season, additionally, the team predicted a greatly increased chance of a major hurricane striking the East Coast of the United States and the Florida peninsula. Though the forecast predicted above-average activity, the level predicted was significantly less than the 2004 season, in addition, the chance of a storm impacting the United States was raised slightly. On May 16,2005,16 days before the season began, NOAA issued its outlook for the 2005 season, the accumulated cyclone energy value for the season was predicted to be 120–190% of the median ACE of 87.5 ×104 kt2. Shortly thereafter, on May 31, the day before the season began, Grays team revised its April forecast upwards to 15 named storms,8 hurricanes. The ACE value was now forecast to be 180 to 270% of the median, the NOAA also noted a higher than normal confidence in the forecast of above-normal activity. On August 5,2005, Gray and his associates followed suit and issued their updated forecast, although neither the NOAA nor Gray had ever forecast such high levels of activity, even the midseason outlooks fell far short of the actual level of activity. The actual ACE would prove to be 248 ×104 kt2 — 277% of the median, Arlene caused only moderate damage, although one swimmer was caught in a riptide and drowned in Miami Beach, Florida. Tropical Storm Bret formed in the Bay of Campeche on June 28, the storm damaged hundreds of homes and caused flooding which killed two people. Hurricane Cindy formed in the Gulf of Mexico on July 4, Cindy was upgraded to a hurricane in the post-storm analysis

17.
Meteorological history of Hurricane Wilma
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The meteorological history of Hurricane Wilma, the most intense known tropical cyclone in the Atlantic basin, began in the second week of October 2005. A large area of disturbed weather developed across much of the Caribbean Sea, by late on October 15, the system was sufficiently organized for the National Hurricane Center to designate it as Tropical Depression Twenty-Four. The depression drifted southwestward, and under conditions, it strengthened into Tropical Storm Wilma on October 17. Initially, development was due to its large size, though convection steadily organized. At its peak intensity, the eye of Wilma was about 2.3 miles in diameter, Wilma weakened over the Yucatán Peninsula, and reached the southern Gulf of Mexico before accelerating northeastward. Despite increasing amounts of wind shear, the hurricane re-strengthened to hit Cape Romano, Florida. Wilma weakened as it crossed the state, and entered the Atlantic Ocean near Jupiter. The hurricane again re-intensified before cold air and wind shear penetrated the inner core of convection, by October 26, it transitioned into an extratropical cyclone, and the next day, the remnants of Wilma were absorbed by another extratropical storm over Atlantic Canada. During the second week of October, a large, monsoon-like lower-level circulation. The system was enhanced by diffluence from an upper-level low across the southwestern Atlantic, by October 13, a broad area of low pressure developed and persisted about 150 miles southeast of Jamaica, possibly aided by the passage of tropical waves through the area at the time. Convection increased and became better organized, though upper-level wind shear initially prevented development. The system drifted westward, and early on October 14 the convection became more concentrated and it was then that the National Hurricane Center first indicated that it was possible for a tropical depression to develop in the area. Dvorak classifications were initiated on October 15, the system continued to organize, with the National Hurricane Center remarking the system could ultimately become a hurricane. The depression tracked westward, a motion due to weak steering currents caused by a high pressure area to its north across the Gulf of Mexico. Initially, the center of circulation was broad without an inner core, forecaster Lixion Avila remarked. This was due to the depression being located within an environment very conducive for development, specifically low amounts of wind shear, although deep convection and banding features increased, mid-level dry air from the north prevented significant organization, and the convection was split into two primary areas. Continued reconnaissance flights reported peak winds of about 30 mph, by early on October 17, the outer rainbands, which had previously dominated the structure of the cyclone, dissipated, while deep convection developed near and to the south of the center. Computer models predicted steady strengthening as the depression tracked westward before turning to the north, of the intensity models, the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory predicted an intensity of 135 mph within 36 hours, with other forecasts being more conservative in their predictions

18.
Effects of Hurricane Wilma in Florida
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The effects of Hurricane Wilma in Florida were catastrophic, becoming the second costliest Florida hurricane ever recorded. Hurricane Wilma was first evident near Jamaica and was classified as a hurricane on October 18, initially, orange future prices soared on October 19,2005. As the system drew closer, schools and government offices closed on October 21, professional and college sports games were rescheduled during Wilmas advance towards Florida. Evacuations were ordered for southwestern Florida and the Keys, as the storm made landfall, a storm surge swept into coastal sections of southern Florida and high winds led to significant damage near and along Wilmas path, particularly to the power grid. Some locations were without power for 2–3 weeks after the storm, Wilma spawned ten tornadoes in Florida. At least 35 Wilma-related deaths were reported in the United States, Wilma was also blamed for at least 26 indirect deaths. Damage in Florida totaled $20.6 billion, the National Hurricane Center issued many tropical cyclone warnings and watches in anticipation of Wilma. First, a watch was posted for the Florida Keys including Dry Tortugas. Six hours later, NHC issued another hurricane watch for the west coast of Florida south of Longboat Key and on the east coast of Florida to the south of Titusville, including Lake Okeechobee. Early the following day, the watch was upgraded to a hurricane warning on the west coast and on the east coast from Jupiter Inlet southward. The hurricane warning along the east coast stretching from the Jupiter Inlet southward was expended northward to Titusville at 09,00 UTC on October 23, simultaneously, the portion of the tropical storm watch from Titusville to Flagler Beach was upgraded to a tropical storm warning. The tropical storm warning was extended northward to St. Augustine at 03,00 UTC on October 24. Twelve hours later, the tropical storm watch was discontinued from St. Augustine to Fernandina Beach, at 17,00 UTC, the tropical storm warning from Longboat Key to the Steinhatchee River was canceled. The remainder of the warning in effect was downgraded to a tropical storm warning about 90 minutes later. By 21,00 UTC on October 24, all remaining tropical cyclone warnings, a mandatory evacuation of residents was ordered for the Florida Keys in Monroe County. However, media reports suggested that as many as 80% of residents may have ignored the evacuation order, County offices, schools and courts were closed Monday, October 24. At least 300 Keys evacuees were housed at the Monroe County shelter at Florida International University in Miami-Dade County, all Collier County public schools were declared closed for Friday, October 21. The schools were closed to allow parents and staff to prepare for the storm and potential evacuation, the schools remained closed on Monday, October 24 as the hurricane made landfall

19.
Effects of Hurricane Wilma in The Bahamas
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The effects of Hurricane Wilma in The Bahamas were generally unexpected and primarily concentrated on the western portion of Grand Bahama. Hurricane Wilma developed on October 15,2005 in the Caribbean Sea, and after initially organizing slowly it explosively deepened to reach winds of 185 mph. It weakened and struck eastern Mexico as a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, after crossing the state, Wilma briefly restrengthened in the open Atlantic Ocean, moving north of The Bahamas before weakening and later becoming an extratropical cyclone. On October 24, Hurricane Wilma made its closest approach to The Bahamas, while passing the archipelago, Wilma produced hurricane-force winds and powerful storm surge, flooding southwestern coastal areas of Grand Bahama and destroying hundreds of buildings. Damage totaled about $100 million, almost entirely on the half of the island. Central Grand Bahama, including the Freeport area, reported minor to moderate damage, one child died on the island from the flooding. The government of The Bahamas advised citizens to rush preparations to completion, though failed to fully prepare. Many homes failed to board windows or apply hurricane shutters, as well, officials ordered evacuations for the eastern and western portion of Grand Bahama island, and established multiple shelters on the island. Evacuations were minimal, it is estimated that between 300 and 1,000 people left, as most people failed to prepare sufficiently for the hurricane, hardware stores and food markets were generally well-stocked. On Grand Bahama Island, Wilma produced sustained winds of 155 km/h, the hurricane also produced a storm surge of over 3.7 m, reportedly as high as 6.1 m along the southwestern portion of the island. The surge, which moved about 305 m inland, caused flooding that washed away or destroyed about 800 homes. Damage was estimated at $100 million on the portion of the island. Excluding the southwestern region of Grand Bahama, the majority of the island reported minor damage. Over 7,000 people on the island were directly affected by the hurricane, many of whom had not fully recovered from hurricanes Frances and Jeanne during the previous year. Significant damage was reported in areas of Grand Bahama Island, with widespread destruction of roofs and vehicles. Power and telephone services were disrupted throughout the island, a total of 400 structures sustained damage, of which about 200 commercial buildings were severely damaged and recommended by engineers not to be repaired. Among the destroyed buildings were a station on the western end. More than 500 automobiles were flooded, including five police cars, the storm surge also raised 54 corpses in five graveyards on the island

20.
Tropical cyclone
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Depending on its location and strength, a tropical cyclone is referred to by names such as hurricane, typhoon /taɪˈfuːn/, tropical storm, cyclonic storm, tropical depression, and simply cyclone. A hurricane is a storm that occurs in the Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Pacific Ocean, a typhoon occurs in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, Tropical cyclones typically form over large bodies of relatively warm water. They derive their energy through the evaporation of water from the ocean surface and this energy source differs from that of mid-latitude cyclonic storms, such as noreasters and European windstorms, which are fueled primarily by horizontal temperature contrasts. The strong rotating winds of a tropical cyclone are a result of the conservation of momentum imparted by the Earths rotation as air flows inwards toward the axis of rotation. As a result, they form within 5° of the equator. Tropical cyclones are typically between 100 and 2,000 km in diameter, Tropical refers to the geographical origin of these systems, which form almost exclusively over tropical seas. Cyclone refers to their nature, with wind blowing counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. The opposite direction of circulation is due to the Coriolis effect, in addition to strong winds and rain, tropical cyclones are capable of generating high waves, damaging storm surge, and tornadoes. They typically weaken rapidly over land where they are cut off from their energy source. For this reason, coastal regions are vulnerable to damage from a tropical cyclone as compared to inland regions. Heavy rains, however, can cause significant flooding inland, though their effects on human populations are often devastating, tropical cyclones can relieve drought conditions. They also carry heat away from the tropics and transport it toward temperate latitudes. Tropical cyclones are areas of low pressure in the troposphere. On Earth, the pressures recorded at the centers of tropical cyclones are among the lowest ever observed at sea level, the environment near the center of tropical cyclones is warmer than the surroundings at all altitudes, thus they are characterized as warm core systems. The near-surface wind field of a cyclone is characterized by air rotating rapidly around a center of circulation while also flowing radially inwards. At the outer edge of the storm, air may be nearly calm, however, due to the Earths rotation, as air flows radially inward, it begins to rotate cyclonically in order to conserve angular momentum. At an inner radius, air begins to ascend to the top of the troposphere and this radius is typically coincident with the inner radius of the eyewall, and has the strongest near-surface winds of the storm, consequently, it is known as the radius of maximum winds. Once aloft, air flows away from the center, producing a shield of cirrus clouds

21.
Atlantic Ocean
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The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the worlds oceans with a total area of about 106,460,000 square kilometres. It covers approximately 20 percent of the Earths surface and about 29 percent of its surface area. It separates the Old World from the New World, the Atlantic Ocean occupies an elongated, S-shaped basin extending longitudinally between Eurasia and Africa to the east, and the Americas to the west. The Equatorial Counter Current subdivides it into the North Atlantic Ocean, in contrast, the term Atlantic originally referred specifically to the Atlas Mountains in Morocco and the sea off the Strait of Gibraltar and the North African coast. The Greek word thalassa has been reused by scientists for the huge Panthalassa ocean that surrounded the supercontinent Pangaea hundreds of years ago. The term Aethiopian Ocean, derived from Ancient Ethiopia, was applied to the Southern Atlantic as late as the mid-19th century, many Irish or British people refer to the United States and Canada as across the pond, and vice versa. The Black Atlantic refers to the role of ocean in shaping black peoples history. Irish migration to the US is meant when the term The Green Atlantic is used, the term Red Atlantic has been used in reference to the Marxian concept of an Atlantic working class, as well as to the Atlantic experience of indigenous Americans. Correspondingly, the extent and number of oceans and seas varies, the Atlantic Ocean is bounded on the west by North and South America. It connects to the Arctic Ocean through the Denmark Strait, Greenland Sea, Norwegian Sea, to the east, the boundaries of the ocean proper are Europe, the Strait of Gibraltar and Africa. In the southeast, the Atlantic merges into the Indian Ocean, the 20° East meridian, running south from Cape Agulhas to Antarctica defines its border. In the 1953 definition it extends south to Antarctica, while in later maps it is bounded at the 60° parallel by the Southern Ocean, the Atlantic has irregular coasts indented by numerous bays, gulfs, and seas. Including these marginal seas the coast line of the Atlantic measures 111,866 km compared to 135,663 km for the Pacific. Including its marginal seas, the Atlantic covers an area of 106,460,000 km2 or 23. 5% of the ocean and has a volume of 310,410,900 km3 or 23. 3%. Excluding its marginal seas, the Atlantic covers 81,760,000 km2 and has a volume of 305,811,900 km3, the North Atlantic covers 41,490,000 km2 and the South Atlantic 40,270,000 km2. The average depth is 3,646 m and the maximum depth, the bathymetry of the Atlantic is dominated by a submarine mountain range called the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It runs from 87°N or 300 km south of the North Pole to the subantarctic Bouvet Island at 42°S, the MAR divides the Atlantic longitudinally into two halves, in each of which a series of basins are delimited by secondary, transverse ridges. The MAR reaches above 2000 m along most of its length, the MAR is a barrier for bottom water, but at these two transform faults deep water currents can pass from one side to the other

22.
Hurricane Patricia
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Hurricane Patricia was the second-most intense tropical cyclone on record worldwide, behind Typhoon Tip in 1979, with a minimum atmospheric pressure of 872 mbar. Originating from a disturbance near the Gulf of Tehuantepec, south of Mexico, in mid-October 2015. Initial development was slow, with only modest strengthening within the first day of its classification, the system later became a tropical storm and was named Patricia, the twenty-fourth named storm of the annual hurricane season. Exceptionally favorable environmental conditions fueled explosive intensification on October 22, a well-defined eye developed within an intense central dense overcast and Patricia grew from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in just 24 hours—a near-record pace. On October 23, the hurricane achieved its peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of 215 mph. This made it the most intense cyclone on record in the Western Hemisphere. Late on October 23, dramatic weakening ensued and Patricia made landfall near Cuixmala, Jalisco and this made it the strongest landfalling hurricane on record along the Pacific coast of Mexico. Patricia continued to weaken extremely quickly, faster than it had intensified, within 24 hours of moving ashore, Patricia degraded into a tropical depression and dissipated soon thereafter late on October 24. The precursor to Patricia produced widespread flooding rains in Central America, hundreds of thousands of people were directly affected by the storm, mostly in Guatemala. At least six fatalities were attributed to the event, four in El Salvador, one in Guatemala, torrential rains extended into southeastern Mexico, with areas of Quintana Roo and Veracruz reporting accumulations in excess of 19.7 in. Damage in Chetumal reached 1.4 billion pesos, as a tropical cyclone, Patricias effects in Mexico were tremendous, however, the affected areas were predominantly rural, mitigating a potential large-scale disaster. Violent winds tore roofs from structures and stripped coastal areas of their vegetation, preliminary assessments indicate hundreds of homes to be destroyed, seven fatalities are linked to the hurricane directly or indirectly, including one during evacuations. Total damage was estimated to be in excess of 5.4 billion pesos, flooding partially associated with remnant moisture from Patricia inflicted US$52.5 million in damage across Southern Texas. On October 11,2015, an area of disturbed weather traversed Central America, the disturbance moved slowly over the next few days, later merging with a tropical wave on October 15. The merger of these systems and the effects of a concurrent Tehuantepec gap wind event spurred the formation of an area of low pressure. A mid-level ridge to the north steered the depression generally west, Development was initially slowed by locally cooler sea surface temperatures and dry air, and the depression became Tropical Storm Patricia only later that day. Once clear of the region, Patricia traversed anomalously warm waters within an environment exceptionally conducive to rapid intensification. Dramatic strengthening began late on October 21 and continued through October 23, Patricia reached hurricane strength shortly after 00,00 UTC on October 22, featuring prominent outflow, well-defined banding features, and a developing eye

23.
List of the most intense tropical cyclones
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In the available records, a total of 78 tropical cyclones attained a pressure of 900 hPa or less, most of which occurred in the Western North Pacific Ocean. The strongest tropical cyclone recorded worldwide, as measured by minimum central pressure, was Typhoon Tip, the following list is subdivided by basins. Data listed are provided by the official Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre, on October 23,2015, Hurricane Patricia attained the strongest 1-minute sustained winds on record at 215 mph. The most intense storm in the North Atlantic by lowest pressure was Hurricane Wilma, the strongest storm by 1-minute sustained winds was Hurricane Allen. Storm with an intensity of 925 hPa or less are listed, the most intense storm in the Eastern Pacific Ocean by was Hurricane Patricia. Storms with an intensity of 922 hPa or less are listed, the most intense storm by lowest pressure and peak 10-minute sustained winds was Typhoon Tip, which was also the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded. Storms with a pressure below 900 hPa are listed. The most intense cyclone in the South-West Indian Ocean is Cyclone Gafilo. By 10-minute sustained wind speed, the strongest tropical cyclone in the South-West Indian Ocean is Cyclone Fantala, storms with an intensity of 920 hPa or less are listed. The most intense cyclones in the Australian Region are Cyclone Gwenda. By 10-minute sustained wind speed, the strongest are Cyclone Orson, storms with an intensity of 920 hPa or less are listed. Storms with an intensity of 920 hPa or less are listed, a total of 16 cyclones are listed down below reaching/surpassing that intensity, which most of them occurred during El Niño seasons. Tropical cyclones that have recorded since the start of the 1969–70 Tropical Cyclone year and have reached their peak intensity to the west of 160E are included in the list. The most intense cyclone in the south Pacific, Cyclone Zoe of 2002, is also the most intense storm in the Southern Hemisphere. By 10-minute sustained wind speed, the strongest tropical cyclone in the south Pacific is Cyclone Pam, due to the fact that tropical cyclones in the South Atlantic are rare, there is no official tropical cyclone season for this region. Despite this, there have been several significant tropical cyclones in the South Atlantic region, Tropical and subtropical cyclones with an intensity of below 1000 hPa are listed. – South Indian Ocean & South Pacific Ocean from 90°E to 160°E, south of 10°S Meteorological Service of New Zealand Limited – South Pacific west of 160°E, south of 25°S

24.
Hurricane Rita
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Hurricane Rita was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. Rita formed near The Bahamas from a wave on September 18 that originally developed off the coast of West Africa. It moved westward, and after passing through the Florida Straits, moving west-northwest, it rapidly intensified to reach peak winds of 180 mph, achieving Category 5 status on September 21st. Rapidly weakening over land, Rita degenerated into a large area over the lower Mississippi Valley by September 26th. Parishes in Southwest Louisiana and counties in Southeast Texas where Rita made landfall suffered from catastrophic-to-severe flooding, according to an October 25,2005 Disaster Center report,4,526 single-family dwellings were destroyed in Orange and Jefferson counties located in Southeast Texas. Major damage was sustained by 14,256 additional single-family dwellings, mobile homes and apartments also sustained significant damage or total destruction. In all, nine Texas counties and five Louisiana Parishes were declared disaster areas after the storm, electric service was disrupted in some areas of both Texas and Louisiana for several weeks. Texas reported the most deaths from the hurricane, where 113 deaths were reported,107 of which were associated with the evacuation of the Houston metropolitan area, moderate to severe damage was reported across the lower Mississippi Valley. Rainfall from the storm and its associated remnants extended from Louisiana to Michigan, rainfall peaked at 16.00 in in Central Louisiana. Several tornadoes were also associated with the hurricane and its subsequent remnants, throughout the path of Rita, damage totaled about $12 billion. As many as 120 deaths in four U. S. states were directly related to the hurricane, on September 7,2005, a tropical wave emerged off the west coast of Africa and moved westward into the Atlantic Ocean. Failing to produce organized, deep convection, the disturbance was not monitored by the National Hurricane Center for tropical cyclogenesis. Convection associated with the system increased briefly late on September 13 before dissipating shortly thereafter, at roughly the same time, a remnant surface trough had developed from a dissipating stationary front and began to drift westward north of the Lesser Antilles. Meanwhile, the wave slowly became better organized and was first noted in the NHCs Tropical Weather Outlooks on September 15 while northeast of Puerto Rico. The wave merged with the surface trough two days later, triggering an increase in activity and organization. At the time, the disturbance, classified as Tropical Depression Eighteen, was roughly 80 mi east of Grand Turk Island in the Turks, as a result, the tropical storm was named Rita. Once the upper-level low weakened, Ritas center of circulation reformed to the north, consequently, the tropical storm resumed its previous strengthening trend as it was steered westward across The Bahamas along the south periphery of a ridge. Upon entering the Straits of Florida on September 20, Rita strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane by 1200 UTC, six hours later, Rita intensified further into Category 2 before subsequently passing approximately 45 mi south of Key West, Florida

25.
Hurricane Katrina
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Hurricane Katrina was the costliest natural disaster and one of the five deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States. The storm is ranked as the third most intense United States landfalling tropical cyclone. Overall, at least 1,245 people died in the hurricane and subsequent floods, total property damage was estimated at $108 billion, roughly four times the damage wrought by Hurricane Andrew in 1992 in the United States. Early the following day, the new depression intensified into Tropical Storm Katrina, the cyclone headed generally westward toward Florida and strengthened into a hurricane only two hours before making landfall at Hallandale Beach and Aventura on August 25. After very briefly weakening to a storm, Katrina emerged into the Gulf of Mexico on August 26. The storm caused severe destruction along the Gulf coast from central Florida to Texas, much of it due to the storm surge, severe property damage occurred in coastal areas, such as Mississippi beachfront towns, over 90 percent of these were flooded. Boats and casino barges rammed buildings, pushing cars and houses inland, over fifty breaches in New Orleanss hurricane surge protection were the cause of the majority of the death and destruction during Katrina on August 29,2005. Eventually 80% of the city and large tracts of neighboring parishes became flooded, according to a modeling exercise conducted by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, two-thirds of the deaths in Greater New Orleans were due to levee and floodwall failure. All of the studies concluded that the USACE, the designers and builders of the levee system as mandated by the Flood Control Act of 1965, is responsible. This is mainly due to a decision to use shorter steel sheet pilings in an effort to save money, exactly ten years after Katrina, J. Many other government officials were criticized for their responses, especially New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco, several agencies including the United States Coast Guard, National Hurricane Center, and National Weather Service were commended for their actions. They provided accurate hurricane weather tracking forecasts with sufficient lead time, Hurricane Katrina formed as Tropical Depression Twelve over the southeastern Bahamas on August 23,2005, as the result of an interaction of a tropical wave and the remains of Tropical Depression Ten. It strengthened into Tropical Storm Katrina on the morning of August 24, the tropical storm moved towards Florida, and became a hurricane only two hours before making landfall between Hallandale Beach and Aventura on the morning of August 25. The storm weakened over land, but it regained hurricane status about one hour after entering the Gulf of Mexico, on August 27, the storm reached Category 3 intensity on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale, becoming the third major hurricane of the season. An eyewall replacement cycle disrupted the intensification, but caused the storm to nearly double in size, the storm rapidly intensified after entering the Gulf, growing from a Category 3 hurricane to a Category 5 hurricane in just nine hours. This rapid growth was due to the movement over the unusually warm waters of the Loop Current. Katrina attained Category 5 status on the morning of August 28 and reached its peak strength at 1800 UTC that day, with sustained winds of 175 mph. However, this record was broken by Hurricane Rita

26.
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale
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To be classified as a hurricane, a tropical cyclone must have maximum sustained winds of at least 74 mph. The highest classification in the scale, Category 5, is reserved for storms with winds exceeding 156 mph, the classifications can provide some indication of the potential damage and flooding a hurricane will cause upon landfall. Officially, the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale is used only to describe hurricanes forming in the Atlantic Ocean, other areas use different scales to label these storms, which are called cyclones or typhoons, depending on the area. In 1967 Robert Simpson became the director of the National Hurricane Center, during 1968 Robert spoke to Herbert Saffir about work that he had just completed for the United Nations, about damage to structures that was expected by winds of different strengths. The scale was developed in 1971 by civil engineer Herbert Saffir and meteorologist Robert Simpson, the scale was introduced to the general public in 1973, and saw widespread use after Neil Frank replaced Simpson at the helm of the NHC in 1974. The initial scale was developed by Saffir, a structural engineer, while performing the study, Saffir realized there was no simple scale for describing the likely effects of a hurricane. Mirroring the utility of the Richter magnitude scale in describing earthquakes, Saffir gave the scale to the NHC, and Simpson added the effects of storm surge and flooding. In 2009, the NHC made moves to eliminate pressure and storm surge ranges from the categories, transforming it into a wind scale. The new scale became operational on May 15,2010, in 2012, the NHC expanded the windspeed range for Category 4 by 1 mph in both directions, to 130–156 mph, with corresponding changes in the other units, instead of 131–155 mph. The NHC and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center assign tropical cyclone intensities in 5 knot increments, so an intensity of 115 knots is rated Category 4, but the conversion to miles per hour would round down to 130 mph, making it appear to be a Category 3 storm. Likewise, an intensity of 135 knots is 250.02 km/h, to resolve these issues, the NHC had been obliged to incorrectly report storms with wind speeds of 115 kn as 135 mph, and 135 kn as 245 km/h. The change in definition allows storms of 115 kn to be rounded down to 130 mph, and storms of 135 kn to be correctly reported as 250 km/h. Since the NHC had previously rounded incorrectly to keep storms in Category 4 in each unit of measure, the new scale became operational on May 15,2012. The scale separates hurricanes into five different categories based on wind, the U. S. National Hurricane Center classifies hurricanes of Category 3 and above as major hurricanes, and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center classifies typhoons of 150 mph or greater as super typhoons. Central pressure and storm surge values are approximate and often dependent on other factors, such as the size of the storm, intensity of example hurricanes is from both the time of landfall and the maximum intensity. As a result, it is not uncommon for a pressure to be higher or lower than expected for a specific category. Generally, large storms with large radii of maximum winds have the lowest pressures relative to its intensity. Poorly attached roof shingles or tiles can blow off, coastal flooding and pier damage are often associated with Category 1 storms

27.
Atlantic hurricane season
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An Atlantic hurricane or tropical storm is a tropical cyclone that forms in the Atlantic Ocean, usually in the summer or fall. A hurricane differs from a cyclone or typhoon only on the basis of location, a hurricane is a storm that occurs in the Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Pacific Ocean, a typhoon occurs in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, and a cyclone occurs in the south Pacific or Indian Ocean. Tropical cyclones can be categorized by intensity, Tropical storms have one-minute maximum sustained winds of at least 39 mph, while hurricanes have one-minute maximum sustained winds exceeding 74 mph. Most North Atlantic tropical storms and hurricanes form between June 1 and November 30, in recent times, tropical disturbances that reach tropical storm intensity are named from a predetermined list. On average, in the North Atlantic basin 11.3 named storms occur each season, the climatological peak of activity is around September 11 each season. In March 2004, Catarina was the first hurricane-intensity tropical cyclone recorded in the Southern Atlantic Ocean. Tropical cyclones are steered by the flow throughout the depth of the troposphere. Specifically, air flow around high pressure systems and toward low pressure areas influence hurricane tracks, south of the subtropical ridge, surface easterly winds prevail. If the subtropical ridge is weakened by a trough, a tropical cyclone may turn poleward and then recurve. Poleward of the ridge, westerly winds prevail and generally steer tropical cyclones that reach northern latitudes toward the east. The westerlies also steer extratropical cyclones with their cold and warm fronts from west to east, generally speaking, the intensity of a tropical cyclone is determined by either the storms maximum sustained winds or lowest barometric pressure. The following table lists the most intense Atlantic hurricanes in terms of their lowest barometric pressure, in terms of wind speed, Hurricane Allen was the strongest Atlantic tropical cyclone on record, with maximum sustained winds of 190 mph. However, these measurements are suspect since instrumentation used to document wind speeds at the time would likely succumb to winds of such intensity, nonetheless, their central pressures are low enough to rank them among the strongest recorded Atlantic hurricanes. Owing to their intensity, the strongest Atlantic hurricanes have all attained Category 5 classification, Hurricane Opal, the strongest Category 4 hurricane recorded, intensified to reach a minimum pressure of 916 mbar, a pressure typical of Category 5 hurricanes. Nonetheless, the pressure remains too high to list Opal as one of the ten strongest Atlantic tropical cyclones, however, this was later superseded by Hurricane Patricia in 2015 in the east Pacific, which had a pressure reading of 872 mbar. Preceding Wilma is Hurricane Gilbert, which had held the record for most intense Atlantic hurricane for 17 years. The 1935 Labor Day hurricane, with a pressure of 892 mbar, is the third strongest Atlantic hurricane, since the measurements taken during Wilma and Gilbert were documented using dropsonde, this pressure remains the lowest measured over land. However, with a pressure of 895 mbar, Rita is the strongest tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Gulf of Mexico

28.
Tropical depression
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Depending on its location and strength, a tropical cyclone is referred to by names such as hurricane, typhoon /taɪˈfuːn/, tropical storm, cyclonic storm, tropical depression, and simply cyclone. A hurricane is a storm that occurs in the Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Pacific Ocean, a typhoon occurs in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, Tropical cyclones typically form over large bodies of relatively warm water. They derive their energy through the evaporation of water from the ocean surface and this energy source differs from that of mid-latitude cyclonic storms, such as noreasters and European windstorms, which are fueled primarily by horizontal temperature contrasts. The strong rotating winds of a tropical cyclone are a result of the conservation of momentum imparted by the Earths rotation as air flows inwards toward the axis of rotation. As a result, they form within 5° of the equator. Tropical cyclones are typically between 100 and 2,000 km in diameter, Tropical refers to the geographical origin of these systems, which form almost exclusively over tropical seas. Cyclone refers to their nature, with wind blowing counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. The opposite direction of circulation is due to the Coriolis effect, in addition to strong winds and rain, tropical cyclones are capable of generating high waves, damaging storm surge, and tornadoes. They typically weaken rapidly over land where they are cut off from their energy source. For this reason, coastal regions are vulnerable to damage from a tropical cyclone as compared to inland regions. Heavy rains, however, can cause significant flooding inland, though their effects on human populations are often devastating, tropical cyclones can relieve drought conditions. They also carry heat away from the tropics and transport it toward temperate latitudes. Tropical cyclones are areas of low pressure in the troposphere. On Earth, the pressures recorded at the centers of tropical cyclones are among the lowest ever observed at sea level, the environment near the center of tropical cyclones is warmer than the surroundings at all altitudes, thus they are characterized as warm core systems. The near-surface wind field of a cyclone is characterized by air rotating rapidly around a center of circulation while also flowing radially inwards. At the outer edge of the storm, air may be nearly calm, however, due to the Earths rotation, as air flows radially inward, it begins to rotate cyclonically in order to conserve angular momentum. At an inner radius, air begins to ascend to the top of the troposphere and this radius is typically coincident with the inner radius of the eyewall, and has the strongest near-surface winds of the storm, consequently, it is known as the radius of maximum winds. Once aloft, air flows away from the center, producing a shield of cirrus clouds

29.
Caribbean Sea
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The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. The entire area of the Caribbean Sea, the islands of the West Indies. The Caribbean Sea is one of the largest seas and has an area of about 2,754,000 km2, the seas deepest point is the Cayman Trough, between the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, at 7,686 m below sea level. The Caribbean coastline has many gulfs and bays, the Gulf of Gonâve, Gulf of Venezuela, Gulf of Darién, Golfo de los Mosquitos, Gulf of Paria, the Caribbean Sea has the worlds second biggest barrier reef, the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef. It runs 1,000 km along the coasts of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, the name Caribbean derives from the Caribs, one of the regions dominant Native American groups at the time of European contact during the late 15th century. During the first century of development, Spanish dominance in the region remained undisputed, from the 16th century, Europeans visiting the Caribbean region identified the South Sea as opposed to the North Sea. The Caribbean Sea had been unknown to the populations of Eurasia until 1492, at that time the Western Hemisphere in general was unknown to Europeans. Following the discovery of the islands by Columbus, the area was colonised by several Western cultures. As of 2015 the area is home to 22 island territories, the International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Caribbean Sea as follows, On the North. In the Windward Channel – a line joining Caleta Point and Pearl Point in Haïti, in the Mona Passage – a line joining Cape Engano and the extreme of Agujereada in Puerto Rico. From Galera Point through Trinidad to Galeota Point and thence to Baja Point in Venezuela, note that, although Barbados is an island on the same continental shelf, it is considered to be in the Atlantic Ocean rather than the Caribbean Sea. The Caribbean Sea is an oceanic sea largely situated on the Caribbean Plate, the Caribbean Sea is separated from the ocean by several island arcs of various ages. The youngest stretches from the Lesser Antilles to the Virgin Islands to the north east of Trinidad, the larger islands in the northern part of the sea Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica and Puerto Rico lie on an older island arc. The geological age of the Caribbean Sea is estimated to be between 160 and 180 million years and was formed by a fracture that split the supercontinent called Pangea in the Mesozoic Era. It is assumed the proto-caribbean basin existed in the Devonian period, in the early Carboniferous movement of Gondwana to the north and its convergence with the Euramerica basin decreased in size. The next stage of the Caribbean Seas formation began in the Triassic, powerful rifting led to the formation of narrow troughs, stretching from modern Newfoundland to the west coast of the Gulf of Mexico which formed siliciclastic sedimentary rocks. In the early Jurassic due to powerful marine transgression, water broke into the present area of the Gulf of Mexico creating a vast shallow pool, the emergence of deep basins in the Caribbean occurred during the Middle Jurassic rifting. The emergence of these marked the beginning of the Atlantic Ocean

30.
Tropical storm
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Depending on its location and strength, a tropical cyclone is referred to by names such as hurricane, typhoon /taɪˈfuːn/, tropical storm, cyclonic storm, tropical depression, and simply cyclone. A hurricane is a storm that occurs in the Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Pacific Ocean, a typhoon occurs in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, Tropical cyclones typically form over large bodies of relatively warm water. They derive their energy through the evaporation of water from the ocean surface and this energy source differs from that of mid-latitude cyclonic storms, such as noreasters and European windstorms, which are fueled primarily by horizontal temperature contrasts. The strong rotating winds of a tropical cyclone are a result of the conservation of momentum imparted by the Earths rotation as air flows inwards toward the axis of rotation. As a result, they form within 5° of the equator. Tropical cyclones are typically between 100 and 2,000 km in diameter, Tropical refers to the geographical origin of these systems, which form almost exclusively over tropical seas. Cyclone refers to their nature, with wind blowing counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. The opposite direction of circulation is due to the Coriolis effect, in addition to strong winds and rain, tropical cyclones are capable of generating high waves, damaging storm surge, and tornadoes. They typically weaken rapidly over land where they are cut off from their energy source. For this reason, coastal regions are vulnerable to damage from a tropical cyclone as compared to inland regions. Heavy rains, however, can cause significant flooding inland, though their effects on human populations are often devastating, tropical cyclones can relieve drought conditions. They also carry heat away from the tropics and transport it toward temperate latitudes. Tropical cyclones are areas of low pressure in the troposphere. On Earth, the pressures recorded at the centers of tropical cyclones are among the lowest ever observed at sea level, the environment near the center of tropical cyclones is warmer than the surroundings at all altitudes, thus they are characterized as warm core systems. The near-surface wind field of a cyclone is characterized by air rotating rapidly around a center of circulation while also flowing radially inwards. At the outer edge of the storm, air may be nearly calm, however, due to the Earths rotation, as air flows radially inward, it begins to rotate cyclonically in order to conserve angular momentum. At an inner radius, air begins to ascend to the top of the troposphere and this radius is typically coincident with the inner radius of the eyewall, and has the strongest near-surface winds of the storm, consequently, it is known as the radius of maximum winds. Once aloft, air flows away from the center, producing a shield of cirrus clouds

31.
Gulf of Mexico
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The Gulf of Mexico is an ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. The U. S. states of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas border the Gulf on the north, Atlantic and Pacific coasts, or sometimes the south coast, in juxtaposition to the Great Lakes region being the north coast. One of the seven main areas is the Gulf of Mexico basin. The Gulf of Mexico formed approximately 300 million years ago as a result of plate tectonics, the Gulfs basin is roughly oval and is approximately 810 nautical miles wide and floored by sedimentary rocks and recent sediments. It is connected to part of the Atlantic Ocean through the Florida Straits between the U. S. and Cuba, and with the Caribbean Sea via the Yucatan Channel between Mexico and Cuba, with the narrow connection to the Atlantic, the Gulf experiences very small tidal ranges. The size of the Gulf basin is approximately 1.6 million km2, almost half of the basin is shallow continental shelf waters. The basin contains a volume of roughly 2,500 quadrillion liters, the consensus among geologists who have studied the geology of the Gulf of Mexico, is that prior to the Late Triassic, the Gulf of Mexico did not exist. It was created by the collision of plates that formed Pangea. As interpreted by Roy Van Arsdale and Randel T. Cox, geologists and other Earth scientists agree in general that the present Gulf of Mexico basin originated in Late Triassic time as the result of rifting within Pangea. The rifting was associated with zones of weakness within Pangea, including sutures where the Laurentia, South American, first, there was a Late Triassic-Early Jurassic phase of rifting during which rift valleys formed and filled with continental red beds. Second, as rifting progressed through Early and Middle Jurassic time and it was at this time that tectonics first created a connection to the Pacific Ocean across central Mexico and later eastward to the Atlantic Ocean. This flooded the basin created by rifting and crustal thinning to create the Gulf of Mexico. While the Gulf of Mexico was a basin, the subsiding transitional crust was blanketed by the widespread deposition of Louann Salt. Initially, during the Late Jurassic, continued rifting widened the Gulf of Mexico and progressed to the point that sea-floor spreading, at this point, sufficient circulation with the Atlantic Ocean was established that the deposition of Louann Salt ceased. During the Late Jurassic through Early Cretaceous, the occupied by the Gulf of Mexico experienced a period of cooling. The subsidence was the result of a combination of stretching, cooling. Initially, the combination of stretching and cooling caused about 5–7 km of tectonic subsidence of the central thin transitional

32.
Cape Romano
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Cape Romano is a cape at the southern end of Caxambas Island, just south of Marco Island and northwest of the Ten Thousand Islands in Collier County, Florida. Calusa Indians founded the settlement and called it Manataca, juan Ponce de León briefly stopped at Manataca on his first trip from Puerto Rico to Florida, but the Indians tried to fight him off. Therere two competing theories as to why the island is called Cape Romano, the most prevalent belief is that Cape Romano got its name from the survivors of a Romanian shipwreck that colonized the island in 1834. However the first actual mention of Romano in the oldest surviving documents of the region came in 1878 after the founding of the famous cheese factory Romano Cheese Corporation. Cape Romano is also the location of the countries first Romanian Orthodox Church, completed in 1837, the ruins can still be found on the island just off the beach. It was destroyed in 1897 by a fire after multiple hurricanes forced the inhabitants from the Island, Cape Romano is where Hurricane Wilma made its first U. S. landfall in October 2005. In 2008, Tropical Storm Fay came ashore near the cape, Cape Romano Dome House Cape Romano Pyramid House Cape Romano Stilt Houses

33.
Florida
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Florida /ˈflɒrᵻdə/ is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, Florida is the 22nd-most extensive, the 3rd-most populous, and the 8th-most densely populated of the U. S. states. Jacksonville is the most populous municipality in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States, the Miami metropolitan area is Floridas most populous urban area. The city of Tallahassee is the state capital, much of the state is at or near sea level and is characterized by sedimentary soil. The climate varies from subtropical in the north to tropical in the south, the American alligator, American crocodile, Florida panther, and manatee can be found in the Everglades National Park. It was a location of the Seminole Wars against the Native Americans. Today, Florida is distinctive for its large Cuban expatriate community and high population growth, the states economy relies mainly on tourism, agriculture, and transportation, which developed in the late 19th century. Florida is also renowned for amusement parks, orange crops, the Kennedy Space Center, Florida has attracted many writers such as Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams, and continues to attract celebrities and athletes. It is internationally known for golf, tennis, auto racing, by the 16th century, the earliest time for which there is a historical record, major Native American groups included the Apalachee, the Timucua, the Ais, the Tocobaga, the Calusa and the Tequesta. Florida was the first part of the continental United States to be visited and settled by Europeans, the earliest known European explorers came with the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León. Ponce de León spotted and landed on the peninsula on April 2,1513 and he named the region La Florida. The story that he was searching for the Fountain of Youth is a myth, in May 1539, Conquistador Hernando de Soto skirted the coast of Florida, searching for a deep harbor to land. He described seeing a wall of red mangroves spread mile after mile, some reaching as high as 70 feet. Very soon, many smokes appeared along the whole coast, billowing against the sky, the Spanish introduced Christianity, cattle, horses, sheep, the Spanish language, and more to Florida. Both the Spanish and French established settlements in Florida, with varying degrees of success, in 1559, Don Tristán de Luna y Arellano established a settlement at present-day Pensacola, making it the first attempted settlement in Florida, but it was abandoned by 1561. Spain maintained tenuous control over the region by converting the tribes to Christianity. The area of Spanish Florida diminished with the establishment of English settlements to the north, the English attacked St. Augustine, burning the city and its cathedral to the ground several times. Florida attracted numerous Africans and African-Americans from adjacent British colonies who sought freedom from slavery, in 1738, Governor Manuel de Montiano established Fort Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose near St

34.
Nova Scotia
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Nova Scotia is one of Canadas three Maritime provinces, and one of the four provinces which form Atlantic Canada. Nova Scotia is Canadas second-smallest province, with an area of 55,284 square kilometres, including Cape Breton, as of 2016, the population was 923,598. Nova Scotia is the second most-densely populated province in Canada with 17.4 inhabitants per square kilometre, Nova Scotia means New Scotland in Latin and is the recognized English language name for the province. In Scottish Gaelic, the province is called Alba Nuadh, which simply means New Scotland. Nova Scotia is Canadas second-smallest province in area after Prince Edward Island, the provinces mainland is the Nova Scotia peninsula surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, including numerous bays and estuaries. Nowhere in Nova Scotia is more than 67 km from the ocean, Nova Scotia has many ancient fossil-bearing rock formations. These formations are rich on the Bay of Fundys shores. Blue Beach near Hantsport, Joggins Fossil Cliffs, on the Bay of Fundys shores, has yielded an abundance of Carboniferous age fossils, wassons Bluff, near the town of Parrsboro, has yielded both Triassic and Jurassic age fossils. Nova Scotia lies in the mid-temperate zone, since the province is almost surrounded by the sea, the climate is closer to maritime than to continental climate. The winter and summer temperature extremes of the climate are moderated by the ocean. However, winters are cold enough to be classified as continental – still being nearer the freezing point than inland areas to the west. The Nova Scotia climate is in ways similar to the central Baltic Sea coast in Northern Europe. This is in spite of Nova Scotia being some fifteen parallels south, areas not on the Atlantic coast experience warmer summers more typical of inland areas, and winter lows a little colder. The province includes regions of the Mikmaq nation of Mikmaki, the Mikmaq people inhabited Nova Scotia at the time the first European colonists arrived. In 1605, French colonists established the first permanent European settlement in the future Canada at Port Royal, the British conquest of Acadia took place in 1710. The Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 formally recognized this and returned Cape Breton Island to the French, present-day New Brunswick then still formed a part of the French colony of Acadia. The British changed the name of the capital from Port Royal to Annapolis Royal, in 1749, the capital of Nova Scotia moved from Annapolis Royal to the newly established Halifax. In 1755 the vast majority of the French population were removed in the Expulsion of the Acadians

35.
Contiguous United States
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The contiguous United States consists of the 48 adjoining U. S. states plus Washington, D. C. on the continent of North America. S. The greatest distance entirely within the 48 contiguous states is 2,802 miles, the greatest north-south line is 1,650 miles. Together, the 48 contiguous states and Washington, D. C. occupy an area of 3,119,884.69 square miles. Of this area,2,959,064.44 square miles is land, composing 83. 65% of U. S. land area, officially,160,820.25 square miles is water area, composing 62. 66% of the nations total water area. The contiguous United States would be placed 5th in the list of states and dependencies by area. The 2010 census population of area was 306,675,006, comprising 99. 33% of the nations population. While conterminous U. S. has the meaning of contiguous U. S. other terms commonly used to describe the 48 contiguous states have a greater degree of ambiguity. The term was in use prior to the admission of Alaska and Hawaii as states of the United States, the District of Columbia is not always specifically mentioned as being part of CONUS. OCONUS is derived from CONUS with O for outside added, thus referring to Outside of Continental United States, the term Lower 48 is also used to refer to the conterminous United States. The National Geographic style guide recommends the use of contiguous or conterminous United States instead of lower 48 when the 48 states are meant, both Alaskans and Hawaiians have unique labels for the contiguous United States because of their own locations relative to them. Alaska became the 49th state of the United States on January 3,1959, Alaska is on the northwest end of the North American continent, but separated from the rest of the United States Pacific coast by the Canadian province of British Columbia. In Alaska, given the ambiguity surrounding the usage of continental, several other terms have been used over the years. Hawaii became the 50th state of the United States on August 21,1959 and it is the southernmost and so far, the latest state to join the Union. Not part of any continent, Hawaii is located in the Pacific Ocean, about 2,200 miles from North America, in Hawaii and overseas American territories, for instance, the terms the Mainland or U. S. Mainland are often used to refer to the continental United States, apart from off-shore US islands, a few continental portions of the contiguous US are accessible by road only by traveling through Canada. Point Roberts, Washington, Elm Point, Minnesota, and the Northwest Angle in Minnesota are three such places, alburgh, Vermont, is not directly connected by land, but is accessible by road via bridges from within Vermont and from from New York. The 48 contiguous United States are, Washington, D. C. is distinct from the state of Washington, extreme points of the United States Mainland Definition of continental Definition of contiguous Definition of coterminous and conterminous

36.
Texas
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Texas is the second largest state in the United States by both area and population. Other major cities include Austin, the second most populous state capital in the U. S. Texas is nicknamed the Lone Star State to signify its former status as an independent republic, and as a reminder of the states struggle for independence from Mexico. The Lone Star can be found on the Texan state flag, the origin of Texass name is from the word Tejas, which means friends in the Caddo language. Due to its size and geologic features such as the Balcones Fault, although Texas is popularly associated with the U. S. southwestern deserts, less than 10 percent of Texas land area is desert. Most of the centers are located in areas of former prairies, grasslands, forests. Traveling from east to west, one can observe terrain that ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods, to rolling plains and rugged hills, the term six flags over Texas refers to several nations that have ruled over the territory. Spain was the first European country to claim the area of Texas, Mexico controlled the territory until 1836 when Texas won its independence, becoming an independent Republic. In 1845, Texas joined the United States as the 28th state, the states annexation set off a chain of events that caused the Mexican–American War in 1846. A slave state before the American Civil War, Texas declared its secession from the U. S. in early 1861, after the Civil War and the restoration of its representation in the federal government, Texas entered a long period of economic stagnation. One Texan industry that thrived after the Civil War was cattle, due to its long history as a center of the industry, Texas is associated with the image of the cowboy. The states economic fortunes changed in the early 20th century, when oil discoveries initiated a boom in the state. With strong investments in universities, Texas developed a diversified economy, as of 2010 it shares the top of the list of the most Fortune 500 companies with California at 57. With a growing base of industry, the leads in many industries, including agriculture, petrochemicals, energy, computers and electronics, aerospace. Texas has led the nation in export revenue since 2002 and has the second-highest gross state product. The name Texas, based on the Caddo word tejas meaning friends or allies, was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves, during Spanish colonial rule, the area was officially known as the Nuevo Reino de Filipinas, La Provincia de Texas. Texas is the second largest U. S. state, behind Alaska, though 10 percent larger than France and almost twice as large as Germany or Japan, it ranks only 27th worldwide amongst country subdivisions by size. If it were an independent country, Texas would be the 40th largest behind Chile, Texas is in the south central part of the United States of America. Three of its borders are defined by rivers, the Rio Grande forms a natural border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south

37.
Hurricane Irma
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The 1978 Atlantic hurricane season was the last Atlantic hurricane season to use an all-female naming list. The hurricane season began on June 1, and ended on November 30. It was an average season due to a subsiding El Niño. The first storm, a storm, developed unusually early – on January 18 –. At the end of July and early August, short-lived Tropical Storm Amelia caused extensive flooding in Texas after dropping as much as 48 in of rain, there were 33 deaths and $110 million in damage. Tropical Storm Bess and Hurricane Cora resulted in only minor land impacts, later in August, Tropical Storm Debra produced widespread effects, though damage was also relatively minor. Hurricane Ella became the northernmost Category 4 hurricane while located at 38°N, hurricanes Flossie and Kendra as well as Tropical Storms Hope, Irma, and Juliet caused minimal land impacts as a tropical cyclone. However, the precursor to Hurricane Kendra caused flooding in Puerto Rico, Hurricane Greta brought strong winds, high tides, and flooding to Central America, particularly Belize and Honduras. Greta resulted in about $25 million in damage and at least five fatalities, overall, the storms of this season collectively caused $191 million in damage and 42 fatalities. Hurricane Greta crossed into the pacific and was renamed Olivia. The Atlantic hurricane season began on June 1,1978. Although 24 tropical cyclones developed, only twelve of them reached tropical storm intensity, of the twelve tropical storms, five of them strengthened into a hurricane, which is slightly below the 1966-2009 average of 6.2. Two of the five became major hurricanes, which is Category 3 or greater on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale. Three tropical storms and two hurricanes made landfall during the season and caused at least 41 fatalities and $135 million, additionally, the precursor to Hurricane Kendra brought flooding to Puerto Rico, with $6 million in damage and one death. The season officially ended on November 30,1978, Tropical cyclogenesis began very early, with the development of a subtropical storm on January 18. It dissipated about five days later, however, the next tropical cyclone, an unnumbered depression, did not develop until June 21. In July, there were two systems, including a tropical depression and Tropical Storm Amelia. Seven tropical cyclones formed in August, including Tropical Depression Four and tropical storms Bess and Debra and hurricanes Cora, there were also seven system in September – tropical depressions Eight, Nine, and Twelve, Tropical Storm Hope, and hurricanes Flossie and Greta

38.
Low pressure area
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A low-pressure area, low, or depression is a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower than that of surrounding locations. Low-pressure systems form under areas of wind divergence that occur in the levels of the troposphere. The formation process of an area is known as cyclogenesis. Within the field of meteorology, atmospheric divergence aloft occurs in two areas, the first area is on the east side of upper troughs, which form half of a Rossby wave within the Westerlies. A second area of wind divergence aloft occurs ahead of embedded shortwave troughs, diverging winds aloft ahead of these troughs cause atmospheric lift within the troposphere below, which lowers surface pressures as upward motion partially counteracts the force of gravity. Thermal lows form due to localized heating caused by greater sunshine over deserts, since localized areas of warm air are less dense than their surroundings, this warmer air rises, which lowers atmospheric pressure near that portion of the Earths surface. Large-scale thermal lows over continents help drive monsoon circulations, low-pressure areas can also form due to organized thunderstorm activity over warm water. When this occurs over the tropics in concert with the Intertropical Convergence Zone, Monsoon troughs reach their northerly extent in August and their southerly extent in February. When a convective low acquires a well-hot circulation in the tropics it is termed a tropical cyclone, Tropical cyclones can form during any month of the year globally, but can occur in either the northern or southern hemisphere during November. Since clouds reflect sunlight, incoming solar radiation decreases, which causes lower temperatures during the day. At night the effect of clouds on outgoing longwave radiation, such as heat energy from the surface. The stronger the area of low pressure, the stronger the winds experienced in its vicinity, globally, low-pressure systems are most frequently located over the Tibetan Plateau and in the lee of the Rocky mountains. In Europe, recurring low-pressure weather systems are known as depressions. Cyclogenesis is the development and strengthening of cyclonic circulations, or low-pressure areas, cyclogenesis is the opposite of cyclolysis, and has an anticyclonic equivalent which deals with the formation of high-pressure areas—anticyclogenesis. Cyclogenesis is a term for several different processes, all of which result in the development of some sort of cyclone. Meteorologists use the term cyclone where circular pressure systems flow in the direction of the Earths rotation, the largest low-pressure systems are cold-core polar cyclones and extratropical cyclones which lie on the synoptic scale. Warm-core cyclones such as cyclones, mesocyclones, and polar lows lie within the smaller mesoscale. Subtropical cyclones are of intermediate size, cyclogenesis can occur at various scales, from the microscale to the synoptic scale

39.
Wind shear
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Wind shear, sometimes referred to as windshear or wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and/or direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Atmospheric wind shear is normally described as vertical or horizontal wind shear. Vertical wind shear is a change in speed or direction with change in altitude. Horizontal wind shear is a change in speed with change in lateral position for a given altitude. Wind shear has a significant effect during take-off and landing of aircraft due to its effects on control of the aircraft and this phenomenon is a concern for architects. Sound movement through the atmosphere is affected by shear, which can bend the wave front, causing sounds to be heard where they normally would not. The thermal wind concept explains how differences in speed at different heights are dependent on horizontal temperature differences. Wind shear refers to the variation of wind over either horizontal or vertical distances, airplane pilots generally regard significant wind shear to be a horizontal change in airspeed of 30 knots for light aircraft, and near 45 knots for airliners at flight altitude. Vertical speed changes greater than 4.9 knots also qualify as significant wind shear for aircraft, Low level wind shear can affect aircraft airspeed during take off and landing in disastrous ways, and airliner pilots are trained to avoid all microburst wind shear. Wind shear is also a key factor in the creation of severe thunderstorms, the additional hazard of turbulence is often associated with wind shear. Weather situations where shear is observed include, Weather fronts, significant shear is observed when the temperature difference across the front is 5 °C or more, and the front moves at 30 knots or faster. Because fronts are three-dimensional phenomena, frontal shear can be observed at any altitude between surface and tropopause, and therefore be seen both horizontally and vertically, vertical wind shear above warm fronts is more of an aviation concern than near and behind cold fronts due to their greater duration. Associated with upper level jet streams is a known as clear air turbulence. The CAT is strongest on the anticyclonic shear side of the jet, when a nocturnal low-level jet forms overnight above the Earths surface ahead of a cold front, significant low level vertical wind shear can develop near the lower portion of the low level jet. This is also known as wind shear since it is not due to nearby thunderstorms. When winds blow over a mountain, vertical shear is observed on the lee side, if the flow is strong enough, turbulent eddies known as rotors associated with lee waves may form, which are dangerous to ascending and descending aircraft. When on a clear and calm night, an inversion is formed near the ground. The change in wind can be 90 degrees in direction and 40 kt in speed, even a nocturnal low level jet can sometimes be observed

40.
Dvorak technique
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The Dvorak technique is a widely used system to estimate tropical cyclone intensity based solely on visible and infrared satellite images. Within the Dvorak satellite strength estimate for tropical cyclones, there are visual patterns that a cyclone may take on which define the upper and lower bounds on its intensity. The primary patterns used are curved band pattern, shear pattern, central dense overcast pattern, central cold cover pattern, banding eye pattern, both the central dense overcast and embedded eye pattern use the size of the CDO. The CDO pattern intensities start at T2.5, equivalent to minimal tropical storm intensity, the shape of the central dense overcast is also considered. The eye pattern utilizes the coldness of the cloud tops within the mass of thunderstorms. The larger the difference is, the stronger the tropical cyclone. Once a pattern is identified, the features are further analyzed to arrive at a particular T-number. The CCC pattern indicates little development is occurring, despite the cold cloud tops associated with the quickly evolving feature, the initial development of this technique occurred in 1969 by Vernon Dvorak, using satellite pictures of tropical cyclones within the northwest Pacific ocean. The system as it was initially conceived involved pattern matching of cloud features with a development, constraints on short term intensity change are used less frequently than they were back in the 1970s and 1980s. The central pressures assigned to tropical cyclones have required modification, as the estimates were 5-10 hPa too low in the Atlantic. This led to the development of a separate wind-pressure relationship for the northwest Pacific, devised by Atkinson and Holliday in 1975, since tropical cyclone satellite patterns can fluctuate over time, automated techniques use a six-hour averaging period to lead to more reliable intensity estimates. Development of the objective Dvorak technique began in 1998, which performed best with tropical cyclones that had eyes and it still required a manual center placement, keeping some subjectivity within the process. By 2004, an advanced objective Dvorak technique was developed which utilized banding features for systems below hurricane intensity, the structure and organization of the tropical cyclone are tracked over 24 hours to determine if the storm has weakened, maintained its intensity, or strengthened. Various central cloud and banding features are compared with templates that show typical storm patterns, in each case a T-number and a Current Intensity value are assigned to the storm. These measurements range between 1 and 8, the T-number and CI value are the same except for weakening storms, in which case the CI is higher. For weakening systems, the CI is held as the tropical cyclone intensity for 12 hours, the table at right shows the approximate surface wind speed and sea level pressure that corresponds to a given T-number. The amount a tropical cyclone can change in strength per 24‑hour period is limited to 2.5 T-numbers per day. Within the Dvorak satellite strength estimate for tropical cyclones, there are visual patterns that a cyclone may take on which define the upper and lower bounds on its intensity

41.
Grand Cayman
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Grand Cayman is the largest of the three Cayman Islands and the location of the territorys capital, George Town. In relation to the other two Cayman Islands, it is approximately 75 miles southwest of Little Cayman and 90 miles southwest of Cayman Brac, Grand Cayman encompasses 76% of the territorys entire land mass. The island is approximately 22 miles long with its widest point being 8 miles wide, the elevation ranges from sea level at the beaches to 60 feet above sea level on the North Sides Mastic Trail. Grand Cayman Island includes five of the six districts of the Cayman Islands, Bodden Town, East End, George Town, North Side, and West Bay. Bodden Town - Founded in the 1700s, Bodden Town district comprises the part of Grand Cayman Island. The village of Bodden Town was the capital of the Cayman Islands. Its population is listed at 5,764. East End - The East End district is located at the east side of Grand Cayman Island and consists mostly of the Village of East End, numerous attractions, restaurants. Its population is listed at 1,371. George Town - The capital of the Cayman Islands and world-famous centre for offshore banking, North Side - Includes Kaibo, Rum Point, and Breakers. Its population is listed at 1,079. Sand Point Cove in Rum Point is home to a Bioluminescent Bay or Bio Bay, West Bay - Has numerous tourist attractions including the Cayman Turtle Farm and the Cayman Motor Museum. Towns in the West Bay district include Seven Mile Beach, Hell and its population is currently listed at 8,243. The remaining district is Sister Islands, which consists of the islands of Cayman Brac and its population is currently listed at 1,937. Of the flora, a representation of the variety of plant life on Grand Cayman can be found at the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park located in the North Side District. Wild banana orchids, ghost orchids, thatch palm trees, red birch trees, mahogany trees and various fruit trees such as avocado, mango, guinep, naseberry, breadfruit, and tamarind. Yellow mastics, black mastics are also seen in the park as well as on the 2 miles -long Mastic Trail, elsewhere outside the park, all of these species can be seen around Grand Cayman, including coconut palm, Casuarina pine, mangrove, and poinciana trees. Fauna seen in locations around the island include blue iguanas, Grand Cayman amazon parrots, Central American agouti, and Gecarcinus ruricola

42.
Sea surface temperature
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Sea surface temperature is the water temperature close to the oceans surface. The exact meaning of surface varies according to the measurement method used, air masses in the Earths atmosphere are highly modified by sea surface temperatures within a short distance of the shore. Localized areas of snow can form in bands downwind of warm water bodies within an otherwise cold air mass. Warm sea surface temperatures are known to be a cause of tropical cyclogenesis over the Earths oceans, tropical cyclones can also cause a cool wake, due to turbulent mixing of the upper 30 metres of the ocean. SST changes diurnally, like the air above it, but to a lesser degree, there is less SST variation on breezy days than on calm days. Coastal SSTs can cause winds to generate upwelling, which can significantly cool or warm nearby landmasses. Onshore winds can cause a considerable warm-up even in areas where upwelling is fairly constant and its values are important within numerical weather prediction as the SST influences the atmosphere above, such as in the formation of sea breezes and sea fog. It is also used to calibrate measurements from weather satellites, there are a variety of techniques for measuring this parameter that can potentially yield different results because different things are actually being measured. Away from the sea surface, general temperature measurements are accompanied by a reference to the specific depth of measurement. Sea surface temperature measurements are confined to the top portion of the ocean, SST was one of the first oceanographic variables to be measured. Benjamin Franklin suspended a mercury thermometer from a ship travelling between the United States and Europe in his survey of the Gulf stream in the late eighteenth century. SST was later measured by dipping a thermometer into a bucket of water that was drawn from the sea surface. The first automated technique for determining SST was accomplished by measuring the temperature of water in the port of large ships. These observations have a bias of around 0.6 °C due to the heat of the engine room. This bias has led to changes in the perception of global warming since 2000, fixed weather buoys measure the water temperature at a depth of 3 metres. Measurements of SST have had inconsistencies over the last 130 years due to the way they were taken, in the nineteenth century, measurements were taken in a bucket off of a ship. However, there was a variation in temperature because of the differences in buckets. Samples were collected in either a wood or a canvas bucket

Honduras
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Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a republic in Central America. It has at times referred to as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras. Honduras was home to several important Mesoamerican cultures, most notably the Maya, the Spanish introduced Roman Catholicism and the now predominant Spanish language, along with

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A Maya stela, an emblematic symbol of the Honduran Mayan civilization at Copan.

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Flag

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Gil González Dávila

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Hernán Cortés, fue uno de los conquistadores de Honduras.

Extratropical cyclone
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Extratropical cyclones are capable of producing anything from cloudiness and mild showers to heavy gales, thunderstorms, blizzards, and tornadoes. These types of cyclones are defined as large scale low pressure systems that occur in the middle latitudes of the Earth. In contrast with tropical cyclones, extratropical cyclones produce rapid changes i

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Approximate areas of extratropical cyclone formation worldwide

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Hurricane Florence in the north Atlantic after completing its transition to an extratropical cyclone from a hurricane

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QuikSCAT image of typical extratropical cyclones over the ocean. Note the maximum winds are on the outside of the occlusion.

Bar (unit)
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The bar is a metric unit of pressure, but is not approved as part of the International System of Units. It is defined as equal to 100000 Pa, which is slightly less than the current average atmospheric pressure on Earth at sea level. The bar and the millibar were introduced by the Norwegian meteorologist Vilhelm Bjerknes, use of the bar is deprecate

Pascal (unit)
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The pascal is the SI derived unit of pressure used to quantify internal pressure, stress, Youngs modulus and ultimate tensile strength. It is defined as one newton per square meter and it is named after the French polymath Blaise Pascal. Common multiple units of the pascal are the hectopascal which is equal to one millibar, the unit of measurement

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A pressure gauge reading in psi (red scale) and kPa (black scale)

Atlantic hurricane
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An Atlantic hurricane or tropical storm is a tropical cyclone that forms in the Atlantic Ocean, usually in the summer or fall. A hurricane differs from a cyclone or typhoon only on the basis of location, a hurricane is a storm that occurs in the Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Pacific Ocean, a typhoon occurs in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, and a

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Tracks of North Atlantic tropical cyclones (1851—2012)

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The subtropical ridge (in the Pacific) shows up as a large area of black (dryness) on this water vapor satellite image from September 2000

3.
Hurricane Katrina was the costliest and one of the five deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States

United States dollar
–
The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States and its insular territories per the United States Constitution. It is divided into 100 smaller cent units, the circulating paper money consists of Federal Reserve Notes that are denominated in United States dollars. The U. S. dollar was originally commodity money of silver as en

1.
Series of 1917 $1 United States bill

2.
Federal Reserve Notes

3.
Spanish silver real or peso of 1768

4.
Obverse of rare 1934 $500 Federal Reserve Note, featuring a portrait of President William McKinley.

Hispaniola
–
Hispaniola is the 22nd-largest island in the world, located in the Caribbean island group, the Greater Antilles. It is the second largest island in the Caribbean after Cuba, two sovereign nations share the 76, 192-square-kilometre island. The only other shared island in the Caribbean is Saint Martin, Hispaniola is the site of the first permanent Eu

1.
View from Hispaniola

2.
Early map of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico, c. 1639.

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Columbus landing on Hispaniola

4.
French map of Hispaniola by Nicolas de Fer

Jamaica
–
Jamaica is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea, consisting of the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles. The island,10,990 square kilometres in area, lies about 145 kilometres south of Cuba, Jamaica is the fourth-largest island country in the Caribbean, by area. Inhabited by the indigenous Arawak and Taíno peoples, the island cam

1.
Henry Morgan was a famous Caribbean pirate and privateer; he had first come to the West Indies as an indentured servant, like most of the early English colonists.

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Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall during a visit to Jamaica in 2008.

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Inside the Jamaican Parliament.

Cuba
–
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is a country comprising the island of Cuba as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located in the northern Caribbean where the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and it is south of both the U. S. state of Florida and the Bahamas, west of Haiti, and north of Jamaica. Havana is the

1.
Hatuey, an early Taíno chief of Cuba.

2.
Flag

3.
Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, conquistador of Cuba.

4.
Slaves in Cuba unloading ice from Maine, c. 1832.

Cayman Islands
–
The Cayman Islands is a British Overseas Territory in the western Caribbean Sea. Its population is approximately 60,000, and its capital is George Town, the Cayman Islands are considered to be part of the geographic Western Caribbean Zone as well as the Greater Antilles. The territory is considered a major world offshore financial haven for many we

1.
Cayman Islands National Museum, George Town, Grand Cayman

2.
Flag

3.
The Heroes Square in the centre of George Town, which commemorates Cayman Islands' war dead. The Legislative Assembly building is at the left.

4.
George Town waterfront

Belize
–
Belize, formerly British Honduras, is an independent country on the eastern coast of Central America. Belize is bordered on the north by Mexico, on the south and west by Guatemala and its mainland is about 290 km long and 110 km wide. Belize has an area of 22,800 square kilometres and a population of 368,310 and it has the lowest population density

1.
"Caana" at Caracol

2.
Flag

3.
"El Castillo" at Xunantunich

4.
An excerpt from the 1898 Gazette that declared September 10 an official holiday, part of the efforts of the Centennial Committee

South Florida
–
South Florida is a region of the U. S. state of Florida, comprising the southernmost part of the state. It is one of Floridas three most common directional regions, the others being Central Florida and North Florida and it includes the populous Miami metropolitan area, the Florida Keys, and other localities. South Florida is the part of the contine

Bahamas
–
The Bahamas, known officially as the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is an archipelagic state within the Lucayan Archipelago. The capital is Nassau on the island of New Providence, the designation of the Bahamas can refer either to the country or to the larger island chain that it shares with the Turks and Caicos Islands. As stated in the mandate/mani

1.
A depiction of Columbus' first landing, claiming possession of the New World for Spain in caravels; the Niña and the Pinta, on Watling Island, an island of The Bahamas that the natives called Guanahani and that he named San Salvador, on October 12, 1492.

2.
Flag

3.
Sign at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park commemorating hundreds of African-American slaves who escaped to freedom in the early 1820s in the Bahamas.

4.
Edward VIII, the Duke of Windsor and Governor of the Bahamas from 1940 to 1945.

Atlantic Canada
–
The population of the four Atlantic provinces in 2016 was about 2,300,000 on half a million km2. The provinces combined had an approximate GDP of $110.308 billion in 2011, the first Premier of Newfoundland, Joey Smallwood, coined the term Atlantic Canada when Newfoundland joined the Dominion of Canada in 1949. Today Atlantic Canada is a distinct re

1.
Map of Atlantic Canada

New Brunswick
–
New Brunswick is one of Canadas three Maritime provinces and is the only constitutionally bilingual province. In the Canada 2016 Census, Statistics Canada estimated the population to have been 747,101, down very slightly from 751,171 in 2011. The majority of the population is English-speaking of Anglo and Celtic heritage and it was created as a res

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The Coming of the Loyalists, painting by Henry Sandham showing a romanticised view of the Loyalists' arrival in New Brunswick.

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Flag

3.
Current licence plate.

4.
Acadians celebrating the Tintamarre and National Acadian Day in Caraquet, New Brunswick

2005 Atlantic hurricane season
–
The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the most active Atlantic hurricane season in recorded history, shattering numerous records. The impact of the season was widespread and ruinous with an estimated 3,913 deaths, of the storms that made landfall, five of the seasons seven major hurricanes—Dennis, Emily, Katrina, Rita, and Wilma—were responsible f

1.
Hurricane Dennis making landfall on the Gulf Coast

2.
2005 Atlantic hurricane season

3.
Satellite photo of Hurricane Emily near peak intensity

4.
Eye of Hurricane Katrina as seen from a NOAA Hurricane Hunter P-3 aircraft

Meteorological history of Hurricane Wilma
–
The meteorological history of Hurricane Wilma, the most intense known tropical cyclone in the Atlantic basin, began in the second week of October 2005. A large area of disturbed weather developed across much of the Caribbean Sea, by late on October 15, the system was sufficiently organized for the National Hurricane Center to designate it as Tropic

1.
Tropical Depression Twenty-Four on October 16

2.
Hurricane Wilma track map

3.
Eye of Hurricane Wilma near peak intensity

4.
Hurricane Wilma near peak intensity

Effects of Hurricane Wilma in Florida
–
The effects of Hurricane Wilma in Florida were catastrophic, becoming the second costliest Florida hurricane ever recorded. Hurricane Wilma was first evident near Jamaica and was classified as a hurricane on October 18, initially, orange future prices soared on October 19,2005. As the system drew closer, schools and government offices closed on Oct

3.
Nearly every window on the west side of South Beach Community Hospital in Miami Beach was blown out.

4.
An aerial view of Belle Glade after Wilma

Effects of Hurricane Wilma in The Bahamas
–
The effects of Hurricane Wilma in The Bahamas were generally unexpected and primarily concentrated on the western portion of Grand Bahama. Hurricane Wilma developed on October 15,2005 in the Caribbean Sea, and after initially organizing slowly it explosively deepened to reach winds of 185 mph. It weakened and struck eastern Mexico as a Category 4 h

1.
Hurricane Wilma to the north of the Bahamas

2.
Damaged homes in Freeport

3.
Fallen trees in the Freeport area

Tropical cyclone
–
Depending on its location and strength, a tropical cyclone is referred to by names such as hurricane, typhoon /taɪˈfuːn/, tropical storm, cyclonic storm, tropical depression, and simply cyclone. A hurricane is a storm that occurs in the Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Pacific Ocean, a typhoon occurs in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, Tropical cyclo

1.
Hurricane Isabel (2003) as seen from orbit during Expedition 7 of the International Space Station. The eye, eyewall, and surrounding rainbands, characteristics of tropical cyclones, are clearly visible in this view from space.

2.
Typhoon Nabi as seen from the International Space Station, on September 3, 2005.

3.
Map of the cumulative tracks of all tropical cyclones during the 1985–2005 time period. The Pacific Ocean west of the International Date Line sees more tropical cyclones than any other basin, while there is almost no activity in the Atlantic Ocean south of the Equator.

4.
Tropical Storm Franklin, an example of a strongly sheared tropical cyclone in the North Atlantic hurricane basin during 2005

Atlantic Ocean
–
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the worlds oceans with a total area of about 106,460,000 square kilometres. It covers approximately 20 percent of the Earths surface and about 29 percent of its surface area. It separates the Old World from the New World, the Atlantic Ocean occupies an elongated, S-shaped basin extending longitudinally be

1.
The Atlantic Ocean as seen from the western coast of Portugal

2.
The Atlantic Ocean, not including Arctic and Antarctic regions

3.
The Atlantic Ocean as seen from Atlantic City, New Jersey.

4.
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina view of the Atlantic Ocean.

Hurricane Patricia
–
Hurricane Patricia was the second-most intense tropical cyclone on record worldwide, behind Typhoon Tip in 1979, with a minimum atmospheric pressure of 872 mbar. Originating from a disturbance near the Gulf of Tehuantepec, south of Mexico, in mid-October 2015. Initial development was slow, with only modest strengthening within the first day of its

1.
Hurricane Patricia at its record peak intensity on October 23, while approaching Western Mexico

2.
The flight crew of NOAA43 commemorate the record observation of 879 mbar (hPa; 25.96 inHg) after their final mission into Hurricane Patricia on October 23.

3.
President Enrique Peña Nieto meets with cabinet members to discuss Hurricane Patricia on October 23

List of the most intense tropical cyclones
–
In the available records, a total of 78 tropical cyclones attained a pressure of 900 hPa or less, most of which occurred in the Western North Pacific Ocean. The strongest tropical cyclone recorded worldwide, as measured by minimum central pressure, was Typhoon Tip, the following list is subdivided by basins. Data listed are provided by the official

1.
A collage of nine of the strongest tropical cyclones

2.
Eye of Hurricane Wilma while at peak intensity

3.
Wilma at nearing record strength

4.
Hurricane Patricia at peak intensity

Hurricane Rita
–
Hurricane Rita was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. Rita formed near The Bahamas from a wave on September 18 that originally developed off the coast of West Africa. It moved westward, and after passing through the Florida Straits, moving west-northwes

Hurricane Katrina
–
Hurricane Katrina was the costliest natural disaster and one of the five deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States. The storm is ranked as the third most intense United States landfalling tropical cyclone. Overall, at least 1,245 people died in the hurricane and subsequent floods, total property damage was estimated at $108 billion,

1.
Hurricane Katrina at peak strength on August 28, 2005

2.
Hurricane Katrina

3.
Katrina on August 28, nearing the Gulf Coast.

4.
Flanked by Michael Chertoff, Secretary of Homeland Security, left, and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, President George W. Bush meets with members of the White House Task Force on Hurricane Katrina Recovery on August 31, 2005, in the Cabinet Room of the White House.

Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale
–
To be classified as a hurricane, a tropical cyclone must have maximum sustained winds of at least 74 mph. The highest classification in the scale, Category 5, is reserved for storms with winds exceeding 156 mph, the classifications can provide some indication of the potential damage and flooding a hurricane will cause upon landfall. Officially, the

1.
Hurricane Barbara in 2013 making landfall.

2.
Juan in 2003 approaching Nova Scotia

3.
Hurricane Isidore near its landfall on the Yucatán peninsula

4.
Daniel in the eastern Pacific

Atlantic hurricane season
–
An Atlantic hurricane or tropical storm is a tropical cyclone that forms in the Atlantic Ocean, usually in the summer or fall. A hurricane differs from a cyclone or typhoon only on the basis of location, a hurricane is a storm that occurs in the Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Pacific Ocean, a typhoon occurs in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, and a

1.
Tracks of North Atlantic tropical cyclones (1851—2012)

2.
The subtropical ridge (in the Pacific) shows up as a large area of black (dryness) on this water vapor satellite image from September 2000

3.
Hurricane Katrina was the costliest and one of the five deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States

Tropical depression
–
Depending on its location and strength, a tropical cyclone is referred to by names such as hurricane, typhoon /taɪˈfuːn/, tropical storm, cyclonic storm, tropical depression, and simply cyclone. A hurricane is a storm that occurs in the Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Pacific Ocean, a typhoon occurs in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, Tropical cyclo

1.
Hurricane Isabel (2003) as seen from orbit during Expedition 7 of the International Space Station. The eye, eyewall, and surrounding rainbands, characteristics of tropical cyclones, are clearly visible in this view from space.

2.
Typhoon Nabi as seen from the International Space Station, on September 3, 2005.

3.
Map of the cumulative tracks of all tropical cyclones during the 1985–2005 time period. The Pacific Ocean west of the International Date Line sees more tropical cyclones than any other basin, while there is almost no activity in the Atlantic Ocean south of the Equator.

4.
Tropical Storm Franklin, an example of a strongly sheared tropical cyclone in the North Atlantic hurricane basin during 2005

Caribbean Sea
–
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. The entire area of the Caribbean Sea, the islands of the West Indies. The Caribbean Sea is one of the largest seas and has an area of about 2,754,000 km2, the seas deepest point is the Cayman Trough, between the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, at 7,686 m below se

1.
Roadtown, Tortola, British Virgin Islands

2.
Caribbean Sea

3.
Christopher Columbus landing on Hispaniola in 1492.

4.
Tulum, Maya city on the coast of the Caribbean in the state of Quintana Roo (Mexico)

Tropical storm
–
Depending on its location and strength, a tropical cyclone is referred to by names such as hurricane, typhoon /taɪˈfuːn/, tropical storm, cyclonic storm, tropical depression, and simply cyclone. A hurricane is a storm that occurs in the Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Pacific Ocean, a typhoon occurs in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, Tropical cyclo

1.
Hurricane Isabel (2003) as seen from orbit during Expedition 7 of the International Space Station. The eye, eyewall, and surrounding rainbands, characteristics of tropical cyclones, are clearly visible in this view from space.

2.
Typhoon Nabi as seen from the International Space Station, on September 3, 2005.

3.
Map of the cumulative tracks of all tropical cyclones during the 1985–2005 time period. The Pacific Ocean west of the International Date Line sees more tropical cyclones than any other basin, while there is almost no activity in the Atlantic Ocean south of the Equator.

4.
Tropical Storm Franklin, an example of a strongly sheared tropical cyclone in the North Atlantic hurricane basin during 2005

Gulf of Mexico
–
The Gulf of Mexico is an ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. The U. S. states of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas border the Gulf on the north,

1.
Sediment in the Gulf of Mexico

2.
Undersea topography of the Gulf of Mexico

3.
Fishing boats in Biloxi

4.
Gulf beach near Sabine Pass

Cape Romano
–
Cape Romano is a cape at the southern end of Caxambas Island, just south of Marco Island and northwest of the Ten Thousand Islands in Collier County, Florida. Calusa Indians founded the settlement and called it Manataca, juan Ponce de León briefly stopped at Manataca on his first trip from Puerto Rico to Florida, but the Indians tried to fight him

1.
Aerial shot of Cape Romano.

Florida
–
Florida /ˈflɒrᵻdə/ is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, Florida is the 22nd-most extensive, the 3rd-most populous, and the 8th-most densely populated of the U. S. states. Jacksonville is the most p

1.
St. Augustine is the oldest city in the U.S., established in 1565 by Spain.

2.
Flag

3.
Aerial view of Castillo De San Marcos (Florida).

4.
The five flags of Florida from the right, Spain (1565–1763), the Kingdom of Great Britain, Spain (1784–1821), the Confederacy, and the United States. France (flag not shown) also controlled part of Florida.

Nova Scotia
–
Nova Scotia is one of Canadas three Maritime provinces, and one of the four provinces which form Atlantic Canada. Nova Scotia is Canadas second-smallest province, with an area of 55,284 square kilometres, including Cape Breton, as of 2016, the population was 923,598. Nova Scotia is the second most-densely populated province in Canada with 17.4 inha

Contiguous United States
–
The contiguous United States consists of the 48 adjoining U. S. states plus Washington, D. C. on the continent of North America. S. The greatest distance entirely within the 48 contiguous states is 2,802 miles, the greatest north-south line is 1,650 miles. Together, the 48 contiguous states and Washington, D. C. occupy an area of 3,119,884.69 squar

1.
This map shows the contiguous United States and in insets at the lower left, the two states that are not contiguous

Texas
–
Texas is the second largest state in the United States by both area and population. Other major cities include Austin, the second most populous state capital in the U. S. Texas is nicknamed the Lone Star State to signify its former status as an independent republic, and as a reminder of the states struggle for independence from Mexico. The Lone Sta

1.
Sam Rayburn Reservoir

2.
Flag

3.
Texas Hill Country

4.
Big Bend National Park.

Hurricane Irma
–
The 1978 Atlantic hurricane season was the last Atlantic hurricane season to use an all-female naming list. The hurricane season began on June 1, and ended on November 30. It was an average season due to a subsiding El Niño. The first storm, a storm, developed unusually early – on January 18 –. At the end of July and early August, short-lived Tropi

2.
1978 Atlantic hurricane season

Low pressure area
–
A low-pressure area, low, or depression is a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower than that of surrounding locations. Low-pressure systems form under areas of wind divergence that occur in the levels of the troposphere. The formation process of an area is known as cyclogenesis. Within the field of meteorology, atmospheric divergence aloft

1.
A clockwise spinning low pressure area or cyclone off southern Australia. The center of the spiral-shaped cloud system is also the center of a low, and usually is where the pressure's lowest.

2.
This low-pressure system over Iceland spins counter-clockwise due to balance between the Coriolis force and the pressure gradient force.

3.
This depiction of the Hadley cell shows the process which sustains low-pressure areas. Diverging winds aloft allow for lower pressure and convergence at the Earth's surface, which leads to upward motion.

4.
QuikSCAT image of typical extratropical cyclones over the ocean. Note the maximum winds are on the poleward side of the occluded front.

Wind shear
–
Wind shear, sometimes referred to as windshear or wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and/or direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Atmospheric wind shear is normally described as vertical or horizontal wind shear. Vertical wind shear is a change in speed or direction with change in altitude. Horizontal wind shear is

2.
Microburst schematic from NASA. Note the downward motion of the air until it hits ground level, then spreads outward in all directions. The wind regime in a microburst is completely opposite to a tornado.

3.
Strong wind shear in the high troposphere forms the anvil-shaped top of this mature cumulonimbus cloud, or thunderstorm.

4.
Depiction of where the planetary boundary layer lies on a sunny day

Dvorak technique
–
The Dvorak technique is a widely used system to estimate tropical cyclone intensity based solely on visible and infrared satellite images. Within the Dvorak satellite strength estimate for tropical cyclones, there are visual patterns that a cyclone may take on which define the upper and lower bounds on its intensity. The primary patterns used are c

1.
The Dvorak technique does not correctly diagnose cyclone intensity for storms like Subtropical Storm Andrea since it applies to tropical cyclones only

2.
Common developmental patterns seen during tropical cyclone development, and their Dvorak-assigned intensities

Grand Cayman
–
Grand Cayman is the largest of the three Cayman Islands and the location of the territorys capital, George Town. In relation to the other two Cayman Islands, it is approximately 75 miles southwest of Little Cayman and 90 miles southwest of Cayman Brac, Grand Cayman encompasses 76% of the territorys entire land mass. The island is approximately 22 m

1.
Grand Cayman from space, April 1994

2.
Red Bay Dock and adjacent piers, South Sound, George Town district

3.
Hibiscus and palm tree on Grand Cayman Island

4.
Central American agouti at Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park

Sea surface temperature
–
Sea surface temperature is the water temperature close to the oceans surface. The exact meaning of surface varies according to the measurement method used, air masses in the Earths atmosphere are highly modified by sea surface temperatures within a short distance of the shore. Localized areas of snow can form in bands downwind of warm water bodies

2.
Temperature profile of the surface layer of the ocean (a) at night and (b) during the day

3.
The 1997 El Niño observed by TOPEX/Poseidon. The white areas off the tropical coasts of South and North America indicate the pool of warm water.

1.
Hurricane Isabel (2003) as seen from orbit during Expedition 7 of the International Space Station. The eye, eyewall, and surrounding rainbands, characteristics of tropical cyclones, are clearly visible in this view from space.

2.
Typhoon Nabi as seen from the International Space Station, on September 3, 2005.

3.
Map of the cumulative tracks of all tropical cyclones during the 1985–2005 time period. The Pacific Ocean west of the International Date Line sees more tropical cyclones than any other basin, while there is almost no activity in the Atlantic Ocean south of the Equator.

4.
Tropical Storm Franklin, an example of a strongly sheared tropical cyclone in the North Atlantic hurricane basin during 2005

3.
The Colonial City of Granada near Lake Nicaragua, is one of the most visited sites in Central America.

4.
The Fortress of the Immaculate Conception was constructed in the late 17th century to protect locals in neighboring Granada from pirate attacks. Today, it is one of Nicaragua's main tourist attractions.

1.
Left to right from top: St. John's Cathedral, the Government House, the CARICOM Flag Monument, the Bliss Institute, an Aerial of Belize City, Princess Hotel and Casino, the Central Bank of Belize, High Court Building and the Swing Bridge

2.
Panoramic view of Belize City, c. 1914

3.
The Swing Bridge in Belize City is the only functioning, manually operated swing bridge in the world.

2.
Top, left to right: Castillo de San Marcos, St. Augustine Light, Flagler College, Lightner Museum, statue near the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine, St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park, Old St. Johns County Jail

3.
Map depicting Sir Francis Drake 's 1586 attack on St. Augustine

4.
City Gate, St. Augustine ca. 1861–1865 View looking into town, St. George Street